George Eliot
The Mill on the Floss
In their death they were not divided
Book First
Chapter I
Outside Dorlcote Mill
A wide plain where the broadening Floss hurries on between its green banks to
the sea and the loving tide rushing to meet it checks its passage with an
impetuous embrace On this mighty tide the black ships laden with the
freshscented firplanks with rounded sacks of oilbearing seed or with the
dark glitter of coal are borne along to the town of St Oggs which shows its
aged fluted red roofs and the broad gables of its wharves between the low
wooded hill and the river brink tinging the water with a soft purple hue under
the transient glance of this February sun Far away on each hand stretch the
rich pastures and the patches of dark earth made ready for the seed of
broadleaved green crops or touched already with the tint of the tenderbladed
autumnsown corn There is a remnant still of the last years golden clusters of
beehive ricks rising at intervals beyond the hedgerows and everywhere the
hedgerows are studded with trees the distant ships seem to be lifting their
masts and stretching their redbrown sails close among the branches of the
spreading ash Just by the redroofed town the tributary Ripple flows with a
lively current into the Floss How lovely the little river is with its dark
changing wavelets It seems to me like a living companion while I wander along
the bank and listen to its low placid voice as to the voice of one who is deaf
and loving I remember those large dipping willows I remember the stone bridge
And this is Dorlcote Mill I must stand a minute or two here on the bridge
and look at it though the clouds are threatening and it is far on in the
afternoon Even in this leafless time of departing February it is pleasant to
look at perhaps the chill damp season adds a charm to the trimlykept
comfortable dwellinghouse as old as the elms and chestnuts that shelter it
from the northern blast The stream is brimful now and lies high in this little
withy plantation and half drowns the grassy fringe of the croft in front of the
house As I look at the full stream the vivid grass the delicate brightgreen
powder softening the outline of the great trunks and branches that gleam from
under the bare purple boughs I am in love with moistness and envy the white
ducks that are dipping their heads far into the water here among the withes
unmindful of the awkward appearance they make in the drier world above
The rush of the water and the booming of the mill bring a dreamy deafness
which seems to heighten the peacefulness of the scene They are like a great
curtain of sound shutting one out from the world beyond And now there is the
thunder of the huge covered waggon coming home with sacks of grain That honest
waggoner is thinking of his dinner getting sadly dry in the oven at this late
hour but he will not touch it till he has fed his horses the strong
submissive meekeyed beasts who I fancy are looking mild reproach at him
from between their blinkers that he should crack his whip at them in that awful
manner as if they needed that hint See how they stretch their shoulders up the
slope towards the bridge with all the more energy because they are so near
home Look at their grand shaggy feet that seem to grasp the firm earth at the
patient strength of their necks bowed under the heavy collar at the mighty
muscles of their struggling haunches I should like well to hear them neigh over
their hardlyearned feed of corn and see them with their moist necks freed
from the harness dipping their eager nostrils into the muddy pond Now they are
on the bridge and down they go again at a swifter pace and the arch of the
covered waggon disappears at the turning behind the trees
Now I can turn my eyes towards the mill again and watch the unresting wheel
sending out its diamond jets of water That little girl is watching it too she
has been standing on just the same spot at the edge of the water ever since I
paused on the bridge And that queer white cur with the brown ear seems to be
leaping and barking in ineffectual remonstrance with the wheel perhaps he is
jealous because his playfellow in the beaver bonnet is so rapt in its movement
It is time the little playfellow went in I think and there is a very bright
fire to tempt her the red light shines out under the deepening grey of the sky
It is time too for me to leave off resting my arms on the cold stone of this
bridge
Ah my arms are really benumbed I have been pressing my elbows on the arms
of my chair and dreaming that I was standing on the bridge in front of Dorlcote
Mill as it looked one February afternoon many years ago Before I dozed off I
was going to tell you what Mr and Mrs Tulliver were talking about as they sat
by the bright fire in the lefthand parlour on that very afternoon I have been
dreaming of
Chapter II
Mr Tulliver of Dorlcote Mill Declares His Resolution About Tom
»What I want you know« said Mr Tulliver »what I want is to give Tom a good
eddication an eddication asll be a bread to him That was what I was thinking
of when I gave notice for him to leave the academy at Ladyday I mean to put him
to a downright good school at Midsummer The two years at th academy ud ha
done well enough if Id meant to make a miller and farmer of him for hes had
a fine sight more schoolin nor I ever got all the learnin my father ever paid
for was a bit o birch at one end and the alphabet at th other But I should
like Tom to be a bit of a scholard so as he might be up to the tricks o these
fellows as talk fine and write with a flourish It ud be a help to me wi these
lawsuits and arbitrations and things I wouldnt make a downright lawyer o
the lad I should be sorry for him to be a raskill but a sort o engineer or
a surveyor or an auctioneer and vallyer like Riley or one o them smartish
businesses as are all profits and no outlay only for a big watchchain and a
high stool Theyre pretty nigh all one and theyre not far off being even wi
the law I believe for Riley looks Lawyer Wakem i the face as hard as one cat
looks another Hes none frightened at him«
Mr Tulliver was speaking to his wife a blond comely woman in a fanshaped
cap I am afraid to think how long it is since fanshaped caps were worn they
must be so near coming in again At that time when Mrs Tulliver was nearly
forty they were new at St Oggs and considered sweet things
»Well Mr Tulliver you know best Ive no objections But hadnt I better
kill a couple o fowl and have th aunts and uncles to dinner next week so as
you may hear what sister Glegg and sister Pullet have got to say about it
Theres a couple o fowl wants killing«
»You may kill every fowl i the yard if you like Bessy but I shall ask
neither aunt nor uncle what Im to do wi my own lad« said Mr Tulliver
defiantly
»Dear heart« said Mrs Tulliver shocked at this sanguinary rhetoric »how
can you talk so Mr Tulliver But its your way to speak disrespectful o my
family and sister Glegg throws all the blame upo me though Im sure Im as
innocent as the babe unborn For nobodys ever heard me say as it wasnt lucky
for my children to have aunts and uncles as can live independent Howiver if
Toms to go to a new school I should like him to go where I can wash him and
mend him else he might as well have calico as linen for theyd be one as
yallow as th other before theyd been washed halfadozen times And then when
the box is goin backards and forrards I could send the lad a cake or a
porkpie or an apple for he can do with an extry bit bless him whether they
stint him at the meals or no My children can eat as much victuals as most
thank God«
»Well well we wont send him out o reach o the carriers cart if other
things fit in« said Mr Tulliver »But you mustnt put a spoke i the wheel
about the washin if we cant get a school near enough Thats the fault I have
to find wi you Bessy if you see a stick i the road youre allays thinkin
you cant step over it Youd want me not to hire a good waggoner cause hed
got a mole on his face«
»Dear heart« said Mrs Tulliver in mild surprise »when did I iver make
objections to a man because hed got a mole on his face Im sure Im rether
fond o the moles for my brother as is dead an gone had a mole on his brow
But I cant remember your iver offering to hire a waggoner with a mole Mr
Tulliver There was John Gibbs hadnt a mole on his face no more nor you have
an I was all for having you hire him an so you did hire him an if he hadnt
died o th inflammation as we paid Dr Turnbull for attending him hed very
like ha been driving the waggon now He might have a mole somewhere out o
sight but how was I to know that Mr Tulliver«
»No no Bessy I didnt mean justly the mole I meant it to stand for
summat else but niver mind its puzzling work talking is What Im thinking
on is how to find the right sort o school to send Tom to for I might be taen
in again as Ive been wi th academy Ill have nothing to do wi a cademy
again whativer school I send Tom to it shant be a cademy it shall be a
place where the lads spend their time i summat else besides blacking the
familys shoes and getting up the potatoes Its an uncommon puzzling thing to
know what school to pick«
Mr Tulliver paused a minute or two and dived with both hands into his
breeches pockets as if he hoped to find some suggestion there Apparently he was
not disappointed for he presently said »I know what Ill do Ill talk it
over wi Riley hes coming tomorrow t arbitrate about the dam«
»Well Mr Tulliver Ive put the sheets out for the best bed and Kezias
got em hanging at the fire They arent the best sheets but theyre good
enough for anybody to sleep in be he who he will for as for them best Holland
sheets I should repent buying em only theyll do to lay us out in An if you
was to die tomorrow Mr Tulliver theyre mangled beautiful an all ready
an smell o lavender as it ud be a pleasure to lay em out an they lie at
the lefthand corner o the big oak linenchest at the back not as I should
trust anybody to look em out but myself«
As Mrs Tulliver uttered the last sentence she drew a bright bunch of keys
from her pocket and singled out one rubbing her thumb and finger up and down
it with a placid smile while she looked at the clear fire If Mr Tulliver had
been a susceptible man in his conjugal relation he might have supposed that she
drew out the key to aid her imagination in anticipating the moment when he would
be in a state to justify the production of the best Holland sheets Happily he
was not so he was only susceptible in respect of his right to waterpower
moreover he had the marital habit of not listening very closely and since his
mention of Mr Riley had been apparently occupied in a tactile examination of
his woollen stockings
»I think Ive hit it Bessy« was his first remark after a short silence
»Rileys as likely a man as any to know o some school hes had schooling
himself an goes about to all sorts o places arbitratin and vallyin and
that And we shall have time to talk it over tomorrow night when the business
is done I want Tom to be such a sort o man as Riley you know as can talk
pretty nigh as well as if it was all wrote out for him and knows a good lot o
words as dont mean much so as you cant lay hold of em i law and a good
solid knowledge o business too«
»Well« said Mrs Tulliver »so far as talking proper and knowing
everything and walking with a bend in his back and setting his hair up I
shouldnt mind the lad being brought up to that But them finetalking men from
the big towns mostly wear the false shirtfronts they wear a frill till its
all a mess and then hide it with a bib I know Riley does And then if Toms
to go and live at Mudport like Riley hell have a house with a kitchen hardly
big enough to turn in an niver get a fresh egg for his breakfast an sleep up
three pair o stairs or four for what I know an be burnt to death before
he can get down«
»No no« said Mr Tulliver »Ive no thoughts of his going to Mudport I
mean him to set up his office at St Oggs close by us an live at home But«
continued Mr Tulliver after a pause »what Im a bit afraid on is as Tom
hasnt got the right sort o brains for a smart fellow I doubt hes a bit
slowish He takes after your family Bessy«
»Yes that he does« said Mrs Tulliver accepting the last proposition
entirely on its own merits »hes wonderful for liking a deal o salt in his
broth That was my brothers way and my fathers before him«
»It seems a bit of a pity though« said Mr Tulliver »as the lad should
take after the mothers side istead o the little wench Thats the worst ont
wi the crossing o breeds you can never justly calkilate whatll come ont
The little un takes after my side now shes twice as cute as Tom Too cute
for a woman Im afraid« continued Mr Tulliver turning his head dubiously
first on one side and then on the other »Its no mischief much while shes a
little un but an overcute womans no better nor a longtailed sheep shell
fetch none the bigger price for that«
»Yes it is a mischief while shes a little un Mr Tulliver for it all runs
to naughtiness How to keep her in a clean pinafore two hours together passes my
cunning An now you put me i mind« continued Mrs Tulliver rising and going
to the window »I dont know where she is now an its pretty nigh teatime
Ah I thought so wanderin up an down by the water like a wild thing shell
tumble in some day«
Mrs Tulliver rapped the window sharply beckoned and shook her head a
process which she repeated more than once before she returned to her chair
»You talk o cuteness Mr Tulliver« she observed as she sat down »but
Im sure the childs half an idiot i some things for if I send her upstairs
to fetch anything she forgets what shes gone for an perhaps ull sit down on
the floor i the sunshine an plait her hair an sing to herself like a Bedlam
creatur all the while Im waiting for her downstairs That niver run i my
family thank God no more nor a brown skin as makes her look like a mulatter I
dont like to fly i the face o Providence but it seems hard as I should have
but one gell an her so comical«
»Pooh nonsense« said Mr Tulliver »shes a straight blackeyed wench as
anybody need wish to see I dont know i what shes behind other folkss
children and she can read almost as well as the parson«
»But her hair wont curl all I can do with it and shes so franzy about
having it put i paper and Ive such work as never was to make her stand and
have it pinched with th irons«
»Cut it off cut it off short« said the father rashly
»How can you talk so Mr Tulliver Shes too big a gell gone nine and
tall of her age to have her hair cut short an theres her cousin Lucys got a
row o curls round her head an not a hair out o place It seems hard as my
sister Deane should have that pretty child Im sure Lucy takes more after me
nor my own child does Maggie Maggie« continued the mother in a tone of
halfcoaxing fretfulness as this small mistake of nature entered the room
»wheres the use o my telling you to keep away from the water Youll tumble in
and be drownded some day an then youll be sorry you didnt do as mother told
you«
Maggies hair as she threw off her bonnet painfully confirmed her mothers
accusation Mrs Tulliver desiring her daughter to have a curled crop »like
other folkss children« had had it cut too short in front to be pushed behind
the ears and as it was usually straight an hour after it had been taken out of
paper Maggie was incessantly tossing her head to keep the dark heavy locks out
of her gleaming black eyes an action which gave her very much the air of a
small Shetland pony
»O dear O dear Maggie what are you thinkin of to throw your bonnet down
there Take it upstairs theres a good gell an let your hair be brushed an
put your other pinafore on an change your shoes do for shame an come an
go on with your patchwork like a little lady«
»O mother« said Maggie in a vehemently cross tone »I dont want to do my
patchwork«
»What not your pretty patchwork to make a counterpane for your aunt
Glegg«
»Its foolish work« said Maggie with a toss of her mane »tearing things
to pieces to sew em together again And I dont want to do anything for my aunt
Glegg I dont like her«
Exit Maggie dragging her bonnet by the string while Mr Tulliver laughs
audibly
»I wonder at you as youll laugh at her Mr Tulliver« said the mother
with feeble fretfulness in her tone »You encourage her i naughtiness An her
aunts will have it as its me spoils her«
Mrs Tulliver was what is called a goodtempered person never cried when
she was a baby on any slighter ground than hunger and pins and from the cradle
upwards had been healthy fair plump and dullwitted in short the flower of
her family for beauty and amiability But milk and mildness are not the best
things for keeping and when they turn only a little sour they may disagree
with young stomachs seriously I have often wondered whether those early
Madonnas of Raphael with the blond faces and somewhat stupid expression kept
their placidity undisturbed when their stronglimbed strongwilled boys got a
little too old to do without clothing I think they must have been given to
feeble remonstrance getting more and more peevish as it became more and more
ineffectual
Chapter III
Mr Riley Gives His Advice
Concerning a School for Tom
The gentleman in the ample white cravat and shirtfrill taking his
brandyandwater so pleasantly with his good friend Tulliver is Mr Riley a
gentleman with a waxen complexion and fat hands rather highly educated for an
auctioneer and appraiser but largehearted enough to show a great deal of
bonhommie towards simple country acquaintances of hospitable habits Mr Riley
spoke of such acquaintances kindly as »people of the old school«
The conversation had come to a pause Mr Tulliver not without a particular
reason had abstained from a seventh recital of the cool retort by which Riley
had shown himself too many for Dix and how Wakem had had his comb cut for once
in his life now the business of the dam had been settled by arbitration and
how there never would have been any dispute at all about the height of water if
everybody was what they should be and Old Harry hadnt made the lawyers Mr
Tulliver was on the whole a man of safe traditional opinions but on one or
two points he had trusted to his unassisted intellect and had arrived at
several questionable conclusions among the rest that rats weevils and
lawyers were created by Old Harry Unhappily he had no one to tell him that this
was rampant Manichæism else he might have seen his error But today it was
clear that the good principle was triumphant this affair of the waterpower had
been a tangled business somehow for all it seemed look at it one way as
plain as waters water but big a puzzle as it was it hadnt got the better of
Riley Mr Tulliver took his brandyandwater a little stronger than usual and
for a man who might be supposed to have a few hundreds lying idle at his
bankers was rather incautiously open in expressing his high estimate of his
friends business talents
But the dam was a subject of conversation that would keep it could always
be taken up again at the same point and exactly in the same condition and
there was another subject as you know on which Mr Tulliver was in pressing
want of Mr Rileys advice This was his particular reason for remaining silent
for a short space after his last draught and rubbing his knees in a meditative
manner He was not a man to make an abrupt transition This was a puzzling
world as he often said and if you drive your waggon in a hurry you may light
on an awkward corner Mr Riley meanwhile was not impatient Why should he be
Even Hotspur one would think must have been patient in his slippers on a warm
hearth taking copious snuff and sipping gratuitous brandyandwater
»Theres a thing Ive got i my head« said Mr Tulliver at last in rather
a lower tone than usual as he turned his head and looked steadfastly at his
companion
»Ah« said Mr Riley in a tone of mild interest He was a man with heavy
waxen eyelids and higharched eyebrows looking exactly the same under all
circumstances This immovability of face and the habit of taking a pinch of
snuff before he gave an answer made him trebly oracular to Mr Tulliver
»Its a very particular thing« he went on »its about my boy Tom«
At the sound of this name Maggie who was seated on a low stool close by
the fire with a large book open on her lap shook her heavy hair back and
looked up eagerly There were few sounds that roused Maggie when she was
dreaming over her book but Toms name served as well as the shrillest whistle
in an instant she was on the watch with gleaming eyes like a Skye terrier
suspecting mischief or at all events determined to fly at any one who
threatened it towards Tom
»You see I want to put him to a new school at Midsummer« said Mr
Tulliver »hes comin away from the cademy at Ladyday an I shall let him run
loose for a quarter but after that I want to send him to a downright good
school where theyll make a scholard of him«
»Well« said Mr Riley »theres no greater advantage you can give him than
a good education Not« he added with polite significance »not that a man
cant be an excellent miller and farmer and a shrewd sensible fellow into the
bargain without much help from the schoolmaster«
»I believe you« said Mr Tulliver winking and turning his head on one
side »but thats where it is I dont mean Tom to be a miller and farmer I see
no fun i that why if I made him a miller an farmer hed be expectin to
take to the mill an the land an ahinting at me as it was time for me to lay
by an think o my latter end Nay nay Ive seen enough o that wi sons Ill
never pull my coat off before I go to bed I shall give Tom an eddication an
put him to a business as he may make a nest for himself an not want to push
me out o mine Pretty well if he gets it when Im dead an gone I shant be
put off wi spoonmeat afore Ive lost my teeth«
This was evidently a point on which Mr Tulliver felt strongly and the
impetus which had given unusual rapidity and emphasis to his speech showed
itself still unexhausted for some minutes afterwards in a defiant motion of the
head from side to side and an occasional »Nay nay« like a subsiding growl
These angry symptoms were keenly observed by Maggie and cut her to the
quick Tom it appeared was supposed capable of turning his father out of
doors and of making the future in some way tragic by his wickedness This was
not to be borne and Maggie jumped up from her stool forgetting all about her
heavy book which fell with a bang within the fender and going up between her
fathers knees said in a halfcrying halfindignant voice
»Father Tom wouldnt be naughty to you ever I know he wouldnt«
Mrs Tulliver was out of the room superintending a choice supperdish and
Mr Tullivers heart was touched so Maggie was not scolded about the book Mr
Riley quietly picked it up and looked at it while the father laughed with a
certain tenderness in his hardlined face and patted his little girl on the
back and then held her hands and kept her between his knees
»What they mustnt say any harm o Tom eh« said Mr Tulliver looking at
Maggie with a twinkling eye Then in a lower voice turning to Mr Riley as
though Maggie couldnt hear »She understands what ones talking about so as
never was And you should hear her read straight off as if she knowed it all
beforehand And allays at her book But its bad its bad« Mr Tulliver
added sadly checking this blamable exultation »a womans no business wi
being so clever itll turn to trouble I doubt But bless you« here the
exultation was clearly recovering the mastery »shell read the books and
understand em better nor half the folks as are growed up«
Maggies cheeks began to flush with triumphant excitement she thought Mr
Riley would have a respect for her now it had been evident that he thought
nothing of her before
Mr Riley was turning over the leaves of the book and she could make
nothing of his face with its higharched eyebrows but he presently looked at
her and said
»Come come and tell me something about this book here are some pictures
I want to know what they mean«
Maggie with deepening colour went without hesitation to Mr Rileys elbow
and looked over the book eagerly seizing one corner and tossing back her mane
while she said
»O Ill tell you what that means Its a dreadful picture isnt it But I
cant help looking at it That old woman in the waters a witch theyve put
her in to find out whether shes a witch or no and if she swims shes a witch
and if shes drowned and killed you know shes innocent and not a witch
but only a poor silly old woman But what good would it do her then you know
when she was drowned Only I suppose shed go to heaven and God would make it
up to her And this dreadful blacksmith with his arms akimbo laughing oh
isnt he ugly Ill tell you what he is Hes the devil really« here Maggies
voice became louder and more emphatic »and not a right blacksmith for the
devil takes the shape of wicked men and walks about and sets people doing
wicked things and hes oftener in the shape of a bad man than any other
because you know if people saw he was the devil and he roared at em theyd
run away and he couldnt make em do what he pleased«
Mr Tulliver had listened to this exposition of Maggies with petrifying
wonder
»Why what book is it the wench has got hold on« he burst out at last
»The History of the Devil by Daniel Defoe not quite the right book for a
little girl« said Mr Riley »How came it among your books Tulliver«
Maggie looked hurt and discouraged while her father said
»Why its one o the books I bought at Partridges sale They was all bound
alike its a good binding you see and I thought theyd be all good books
Theres Jeremy Taylors Holy Living and Dying among em I read in it often of a
Sunday« Mr Tulliver felt somehow a familiarity with that great writer because
his name was Jeremy »and theres a lot more of em sermons mostly I think
but theyve all got the same covers and I thought they were all o one sample
as you may say But it seems one mustnt judge by th outside This is a
puzzlin world«
»Well« said Mr Riley in an admonitory patronising tone as he patted
Maggie on the head »I advise you to put by the History of the Devil and read
some prettier book Have you no prettier books«
»O yes« said Maggie reviving a little in the desire to vindicate the
variety of her reading »I know the reading in this book isnt pretty but I
like the pictures and I make stories to the pictures out of my own head you
know But Ive got Æsops Fables and a book about Kangaroos and things and the
Pilgrims Progress«
»Ah a beautiful book« said Mr Riley »you cant read a better«
»Well but theres a great deal about the devil in that« said Maggie
triumphantly »and Ill show you the picture of him in his true shape as he
fought with Christian«
Maggie ran in an instant to the corner of the room jumped on a chair and
reached down from the small bookcase a shabby old copy of Bunyan which opened
at once without the least trouble of search at the picture she wanted
»Here he is« she said running back to Mr Riley »and Tom coloured him for
me with his paints when he was at home last holidays the body all black you
know and the eyes red like fire because hes all fire inside and it shines
out at his eyes«
»Go go« said Mr Tulliver peremptorily beginning to feel rather
uncomfortable at these free remarks on the personal appearance of a being
powerful enough to create lawyers »shut up the book and lets hear no more o
such talk It is as I thought the child ull learn more mischief nor good wi
the books Go go and see after your mother«
Maggie shut up the book at once with a sense of disgrace but not being
inclined to see after her mother she compromised the matter by going into a
dark corner behind her fathers chair and nursing her doll towards which she
had an occasional fit of fondness in Toms absence neglecting its toilette but
lavishing so many warm kisses on it that the waxen cheeks had a wasted unhealthy
appearance
»Did you ever hear the like ont« said Mr Tulliver as Maggie retired
»Its a pity but what shed been the lad shed ha been a match for the
lawyers she would Its the wonderfulst thing« here he lowered his voice
»as I picked the mother because she wasnt oer cute bein a goodlooking
woman too an come of a rare family for managing but I picked her from her
sisters o purpose cause she was a bit weak like for I wasnt agoin to be
told the rights o things by my own fireside But you see when a mans got
brains himself theres no knowing where theyll run to an a pleasant sort o
soft woman may go on breeding you stupid lads and cute wenches till its like
as if the world was turned topsyturvy Its an uncommon puzzlin thing«
Mr Rileys gravity gave way and he shook a little under the application of
his pinch of snuff before he said
»But your lads not stupid is he I saw him when I was here last busy
making fishingtackle he seemed quite up to it«
»Well he isnt not to say stupid hes got a notion o things out o door
an a sort o commonsense as hed lay hold o things by the right handle But
hes slow with his tongue you see and he reads but poorly and cant abide the
books and spells all wrong they tell me an as shy as can be wi strangers
an you never hear him say cute things like the little wench Now what I want
is to send him to a school where theyll make him a bit nimble with his tongue
and his pen and make a smart chap of him I want my son to be even wi these
fellows as have got the start o me with having better schooling Not but what
if the world had been left as God made it I could ha seen my way and held my
own wi the best of em but things have got so twisted round and wrapped up i
unreasonable words as arent a bit like em as Im clean at fault often an
often Everything winds about so the more straightforrard you are the more
youre puzzled«
Mr Tulliver took a draught swallowed it slowly and shook his head in a
melancholy manner conscious of exemplifying the truth that a perfectly sane
intellect is hardly at home in this insane world
»Youre quite in the right of it Tulliver« observed Mr Riley »Better
spend an extra hundred or two on your sons education than leave it him in your
will I know I should have tried to do so by a son of mine if Id had one
though God knows I havent your readymoney to play with Tulliver and I have
a houseful of daughters into the bargain«
»I daresay now you know of a school as ud be just the thing for Tom«
said Mr Tulliver not diverted from his purpose by any sympathy with Mr
Rileys deficiency of ready cash
Mr Riley took a pinch of snuff and kept Mr Tulliver in suspence by a
silence that seemed deliberative before he said
»I know of a very fine chance for any one thats got the necessary money
and thats what you have Tulliver The fact is I wouldnt recommend any friend
of mine to send a boy to a regular school if he could afford to do better But
if any one wanted his boy to get superior instruction and training where he
would be the companion of his master and that master a firstrate fellow I
know his man I wouldnt mention the chance to everybody because I dont think
everybody would succeed in getting it if he were to try but I mention it to
you Tulliver between ourselves«
The fixed inquiring glance with which Mr Tulliver had been watching his
friends oracular face became quite eager
»Ay now lets hear« he said adjusting himself in his chair with the
complacency of a person who is thought worthy of important communications
»Hes an Oxford man« said Mr Riley sententiously shutting his mouth
close and looking at Mr Tulliver to observe the effect of this stimulating
information
»What a parson« said Mr Tulliver rather doubtfully
»Yes and an MA The bishop I understand thinks very highly of him why
it was the bishop who got him his present curacy«
»Ah« said Mr Tulliver to whom one thing was as wonderful as another
concerning these unfamiliar phenomena »But what can he want wi Tom then«
»Why the fact is hes fond of teaching and wishes to keep up his studies
and a clergyman has but little opportunity for that in his parochial duties
Hes willing to take one or two boys as pupils to fill up his time profitably
The boys would be quite of the family the finest thing in the world for them
under Stellings eye continually«
»But do you think theyd give the poor lad twice o pudding« said Mrs
Tulliver who was now in her place again »Hes such a boy for pudding as never
was an a growing boy like that its dreadful to think o their stintin
him«
»And what money ud he want« said Mr Tulliver whose instinct told him
that the services of this admirable MA would bear a high price
»Why I know of a clergyman who asks a hundred and fifty with his youngest
pupils and hes not to be mentioned with Stelling the man I speak of I know
on good authority that one of the chief people at Oxford said Stelling might
get the highest honours if he chose But he didnt care about university
honours Hes a quiet man not noisy«
»Ah a deal better a deal better« said Mr Tulliver »but a hundred and
fiftys an uncommon price I never thought o payin so much as that«
»A good education let me tell you Tulliver a good education is cheap at
the money But Stelling is moderate in his terms hes not a grasping man Ive
no doubt hed take your boy at a hundred and thats what you wouldnt get many
other clergymen to do Ill write to him about it if you like«
Mr Tulliver rubbed his knees and looked at the carpet in a meditative
manner
»But belike hes a bachelor« observed Mrs Tulliver in the interval »an
Ive no opinion o housekeepers There was my brother as is dead an gone had
a housekeeper once an she took half the feathers out o the best bed an
packed em up an sent em away An its unknown the linen she made away with
Stott her name was It ud break my heart to send Tom where theres a
housekeeper an I hope you wont think of it Mr Tulliver«
»You may set your mind at rest on that score Mrs Tulliver« said Mr
Riley »for Stelling is married to as nice a little woman as any man need wish
for a wife There isnt a kinder little soul in the world I know her family
well She has very much your complexion light curly hair She comes of a good
Mudport family and its not every offer that would have been acceptable in that
quarter But Stellings not an everyday man Rather a particular fellow as to
the people he chooses to be connected with But I think he would have no
objection to take your son I think he would not on my representation«
»I dont know what he could have against the lad« said Mrs Tulliver with
a slight touch of motherly indignation »a nice freshskinned lad as anybody
need wish to see«
»But theres one thing Im thinking on« said Mr Tulliver turning his head
on one side and looking at Mr Riley after a long perusal of the carpet
»Wouldnt a parson be almost too highlearnt to bring up a lad to be a man o
business My notion o the parsons was as theyd got a sort o learning as lay
mostly out o sight And that isnt what I want for Tom I want him to know
figures and write like print and see into things quick and know what folks
mean and how to wrap things up in words as arent actionable Its an uncommon
fine thing that is« concluded Mr Tulliver shaking his head »when you can
let a man know what you think of him without paying for it«
»O my dear Tulliver« said Mr Riley »youre quite under a mistake about
the clergy all the best schoolmasters are of the clergy The schoolmasters who
are not clergymen are a very low set of men generally«
»Ay that Jacobs is at the cademy« interposed Mr Tulliver
»To be sure men who have failed in other trades most likely Now a
clergyman is a gentleman by profession and education and besides that he has
the knowledge that will ground a boy and prepare him for entering on any career
with credit There may be some clergymen who are mere bookmen but you may
depend upon it Stelling is not one of them a man thats wide awake let me
tell you Drop him a hint and thats enough You talk of figures now you have
only to say to Stelling I want my son to be a thorough arithmetician and you
may leave the rest to him«
Mr Riley paused a moment while Mr Tulliver somewhat reassured as to
clerical tutorship was inwardly rehearsing to an imaginary Mr Stelling the
statement »I want my son to know rethmetic«
»You see my dear Tulliver« Mr Riley continued »when you get a thoroughly
educated man like Stelling hes at no loss to take up any branch of
instruction When a workman knows the use of his tools he can make a door as
well as a window«
»Ay thats true« said Mr Tulliver almost convinced now that the clergy
must be the best of schoolmasters
»Well Ill tell you what Ill do for you« said Mr Riley »and I wouldnt
do it for everybody Ill see Stellings fatherinlaw or drop him a line when
I get back to Mudport to say that you wish to place your boy with his
soninlaw and I daresay Stelling will write to you and send you his terms«
»But theres no hurry is there« said Mrs Tulliver »for I hope Mr
Tulliver you wont let Tom begin at his new school before Midsummer He began
at the cademy at the Ladyday quarter and you see what goods come of it«
»Ay ay Bessy never brew wi bad malt upo Michaelmas day else youll
have a poor tap« said Mr Tulliver winking and smiling at Mr Riley with the
natural pride of a man who has a buxom wife conspicuously his inferior in
intellect »But its true theres no hurry youve hit it there Bessy«
»It might be as well not to defer the arrangement too long« said Mr Riley
quietly »for Stelling may have propositions from other parties and I know he
would not take more than two or three boarders if so many If I were you I
think I would enter on the subject with Stelling at once theres no necessity
for sending the boy before Midsummer but I would be on the safe side and make
sure that nobody forestalls you«
»Ay theres summat in that« said Mr Tulliver
»Father« broke in Maggie who had stolen unperceived to her fathers elbow
again listening with parted lips while she held her doll topsyturvy and
crushed its nose against the wood of the chair »Father is it a long way off
where Tom is to go shant we ever go to see him«
»I dont know my wench« said the father tenderly »Ask Mr Riley he
knows«
Maggie came round promptly in front of Mr Riley and said »How far is it
please sir«
»O a long long way off« that gentleman answered being of opinion that
children when they are not naughty should always be spoken to jocosely »You
must borrow the sevenleagued boots to get to him«
»Thats nonsense« said Maggie tossing her head haughtily and turning
away with the tears springing in her eyes She began to dislike Mr Riley it
was evident he thought her silly and of no consequence
»Hush Maggie for shame of you asking questions and chattering« said her
mother »Come and sit down on your little stool and hold your tongue do But«
added Mrs Tulliver who had her own alarm awakened »is it so far off as I
couldnt wash him and mend him«
»About fifteen miles thats all« said Mr Riley »You can drive there and
back in a day quite comfortably Or Stelling is a hospitable pleasant man
hed be glad to have you stay«
»But its too far off for the linen I doubt« said Mrs Tulliver sadly
The entrance of supper opportunely adjourned this difficulty and relieved
Mr Riley from the labour of suggesting some solution or compromise a labour
which he would otherwise doubtless have undertaken for as you perceive he was
a man of very obliging manners And he had really given himself the trouble of
recommending Mr Stelling to his friend Tulliver without any positive
expectation of a solid definite advantage resulting to himself notwithstanding
the subtle indications to the contrary which might have misled a too sagacious
observer For there is nothing more widely misleading than sagacity if it
happens to get on a wrong scent and sagacity persuaded that men usually act
and speak from distinct motives with a consciously proposed end in view is
certain to waste its energies on imaginary game Plotting covetousness and
deliberate contrivance in order to compass a selfish end are nowhere abundant
but in the world of the dramatist they demand too intense a mental action for
many of our fellowparishioners to be guilty of them It is easy enough to spoil
the lives of our neighbours without taking so much trouble we can do it by lazy
acquiescence and lazy omission by trivial falsities for which we hardly know a
reason by small frauds neutralised by small extravagancies by maladroit
flatteries and clumsily improvised insinuations We live from hand to mouth
most of us with a small family of immediate desires we do little else than
snatch a morsel to satisfy the hungry brood rarely thinking of seedcorn or the
next years crop
Mr Riley was a man of business and not cold towards his own interest yet
even he was more under the influence of small promptings than of farsighted
designs He had no private understanding with the Rev Walter Stelling on the
contrary he knew very little of that MA and his acquirements not quite
enough perhaps to warrant so strong a recommendation of him as he had given to
his friend Tulliver But he believed Mr Stelling to be an excellent classic
for Gadsby had said so and Gadsbys first cousin was an Oxford tutor which was
better ground for the belief even than his own immediate observation would have
been for though Mr Riley had received a tincture of the classics at the great
Mudport Free School and had a sense of understanding Latin generally his
comprehension of any particular Latin was not ready Doubtless there remained a
subtle aroma from his juvenile contact with the De Senectute and the Fourth Book
of the Æneid but it had ceased to be distinctly recognisable as classical and
was only perceived in the higher finish and force of his auctioneering style
Then Stelling was an Oxford man and the Oxford men were always no no it
was the Cambridge men who were always good mathematicians But a man who had had
a university education could teach anything he liked especially a man like
Stelling who had made a speech at a Mudport dinner on a political occasion and
had acquitted himself so well that it was generally remarked this soninlaw of
Timpsons was a sharp fellow It was to be expected of a Mudport man from the
parish of St Ursula that he would not omit to do a good turn to a soninlaw of
Timpsons for Timpson was one of the most useful and influential men in the
parish and had a good deal of business which he knew how to put into the right
hands Mr Riley liked such men quite apart from any money which might be
diverted through their good judgment from less worthy pockets into his own
and it would be a satisfaction to him to say to Timpson on his return home
»Ive secured a good pupil for your soninlaw« Timpson had a large family of
daughters Mr Riley felt for him besides Louisa Timpsons face with its
light curls had been a familiar object to him over the pew wainscot on a Sunday
for nearly fifteen years it was natural her husband should be a commendable
tutor Moreover Mr Riley knew of no other schoolmaster whom he had any ground
for recommending in preference why then should he not recommend Stelling His
friend Tulliver had asked him for an opinion it is always chilling in friendly
intercourse to say you have no opinion to give And if you deliver an opinion
at all it is mere stupidity not to do it with an air of conviction and
wellfounded knowledge You make it your own in uttering it and naturally get
fond of it Thus Mr Riley knowing no harm of Stelling to begin with and
wishing him well so far as he had any wishes at all concerning him had no
sooner recommended him than he began to think with admiration of a man
recommended on such high authority and would soon have gathered so warm an
interest on the subject that if Mr Tulliver had in the end declined to send
Tom to Stelling Mr Riley would have thought his »friend of the old school« a
thoroughly pigheaded fellow
If you blame Mr Riley very severely for giving a recommendation on such
slight grounds I must say you are rather hard upon him Why should an
auctioneer and appraiser thirty years ago who had as good as forgotten his
freeschool Latin be expected to manifest a delicate scrupulosity which is not
always exhibited by gentlemen of the learned professions even in our present
advanced stage of morality
Besides a man with the milk of human kindness in him can scarcely abstain
from doing a goodnatured action and one cannot be goodnatured all round
Nature herself occasionally quarters an inconvenient parasite on an animal
towards whom she has otherwise no illwill What then We admire her care for
the parasite If Mr Riley had shrunk from giving a recommendation that was not
based on valid evidence he would not have helped Mr Stelling to a paying
pupil and that would not have been so well for the reverend gentleman
Consider too that all the pleasant little dim ideas and complacencies of
standing well with Timpson of dispensing advice when he was asked for it of
impressing his friend Tulliver with additional respect of saying something and
saying it emphatically with other inappreciably minute ingredients that went
along with the warm hearth and the brandyandwater to make up Mr Rileys
consciousness on this occasion would have been a mere blank
Chapter IV
Tom Is Expected
It was a heavy disappointment to Maggie that she was not allowed to go with her
father in the gig when he went to fetch Tom home from the academy but the
morning was too wet Mrs Tulliver said for a little girl to go out in her best
bonnet Maggie took the opposite view very strongly and it was a direct
consequence of this difference of opinion that when her mother was in the act of
brushing out the reluctant black crop Maggie suddenly rushed from under her
hands and dipped her head in a basin of water standing near in the vindictive
determination that there should be no more chance of curls that day
»Maggie Maggie« exclaimed Mrs Tulliver sitting stout and helpless with
the brushes on her lap »what is to become of you if youre so naughty Ill
tell your aunt Glegg and your aunt Pullet when they come next week and theyll
never love you any more O dear O dear look at your clean pinafore wet from
top to bottom Folks ull think its a judgment on me as Ive got such a child
theyll think Ive done summat wicked«
Before this remonstrance was finished Maggie was already out of hearing
making her way towards the great attic that ran under the old highpitched roof
shaking the water from her black locks as she ran like a Skye terrier escaped
from his bath This attic was Maggies favourite retreat on a wet day when the
weather was not too cold here she fretted out all her illhumours and talked
aloud to the wormeaten floors and the wormeaten shelves and the dark rafters
festooned with cobwebs and here she kept a Fetish which she punished for all
her misfortunes This was the trunk of a large wooden doll which once stared
with the roundest of eyes above the reddest of cheeks but was now entirely
defaced by a long career of vicarious suffering Three nails driven into the
head commemorated as many crises in Maggies nine years of earthly struggle
that luxury of vengeance having been suggested to her by the picture of Jael
destroying Sisera in the old Bible The last nail had been driven in with a
fiercer stroke than usual for the Fetish on that occasion represented aunt
Glegg But immediately afterwards Maggie had reflected that if she drove many
nails in she would not be so well able to fancy that the head was hurt when she
knocked it against the wall nor to comfort it and make believe to poultice it
when her fury was abated for even aunt Glegg would be pitiable when she had
been hurt very much and thoroughly humiliated so as to beg her nieces pardon
Since then she had driven no more nails in but had soothed herself by
alternately grinding and beating the wooden head against the rough brick of the
great chimneys that made two square pillars supporting the roof That was what
she did this morning on reaching the attic sobbing all the while with a passion
that expelled every other form of consciousness even the memory of the
grievance that had caused it As at last the sobs were getting quieter and the
grinding less fierce a sudden beam of sunshine falling through the wire
lattice across the wormeaten shelves made her throw away the Fetish and run to
the window The sun was really breaking out the sound of the mill seemed
cheerful again the granary doors were open and there was Yap the queer
whiteandbrown terrier with one ear turned back trotting about and sniffing
vaguely as if he were in search of a companion It was irresistible Maggie
tossed her hair back and ran downstairs seized her bonnet without putting it
on peeped and then dashed along the passage lest she should encounter her
mother and was quickly out in the yard whirling round like a Pythoness and
singing as she whirled »Yap Yap Toms coming home« while Yap danced and
barked round her as much as to say if there was any noise wanted he was the
dog for it
»Hegh hegh Miss youll make yourself giddy an tumble down i the dirt«
said Luke the head miller a tall broadshouldered man of forty blackeyed and
blackhaired subdued by a general mealiness like an auricula
Maggie paused in her whirling and said staggering a little »O no it
doesnt make me giddy Luke may I go into the mill with you«
Maggie loved to linger in the great spaces of the mill and often came out
with her black hair powdered to a soft whiteness that made her dark eyes flash
out with new fire The resolute din the unresting motion of the great stones
giving her a dim delicious awe as at the presence of an uncontrollable force
the meal for ever pouring pouring the fine white powder softening all
surfaces and making the very spidernets look like a faery lacework the
sweet pure scent of the meal all helped to make Maggie feel that the mill was
a little world apart from her outside everyday life The spiders were especially
a subject of speculation with her She wondered if they had any relatives
outside the mill for in that case there must be a painful difficulty in their
family intercourse a fat and floury spider accustomed to take his fly well
dusted with meal must suffer a little at a cousins table where the fly was au
naturel and the ladyspiders must be mutually shocked at each others
appearance But the part of the mill she liked best was the topmost story the
cornhutch where there were the great heaps of grain which she could sit on
and slide down continually She was in the habit of taking this recreation as
she conversed with Luke to whom she was very communicative wishing him to
think well of her understanding as her father did
Perhaps she felt it necessary to recover her position with him on the
present occasion for as she sat sliding on the heap of grain near which he was
busying himself she said at that shrill pitch which was requisite in
millsociety
»I think you never read any book but the Bible did you Luke«
»Nay Miss an not much o that« said Luke with great frankness »Im no
reader I arent«
»But if I lent you one of my books Luke Ive not got any very pretty books
that would be easy for you to read but theres Pugs Tour of Europe that
would tell you all about the different sorts of people in the world and if you
didnt understand the reading the pictures would help you they show the looks
and ways of the people and what they do There are the Dutchmen very fat and
smoking you know and one sitting on a barrel«
»Nay Miss In no opinion o Dutchmen There bent much good i knowin
about them«
»But theyre our fellowcreatures Luke we ought to know about our
fellowcreatures«
»Not much o fellowcreaturs I think Miss all I know my old master as
war a knowin man used to say says he If eer I sow my wheat wiout brinin
Im a Dutchman says he an that war as much as to say as a Dutchman war a
fool or next door Nay nay I arent goin to bother mysen about Dutchmen
Theres fools enoo an rogues enoo wi out lookin i books for em«
»O well« said Maggie rather foiled by Lukes unexpectedly decided views
about Dutchmen »perhaps you would like Animated Nature better thats not
Dutchmen you know but elephants and kangaroos and the civet cat and the
sunfish and a bird sitting on its tail I forget its name There are
countries full of those creatures instead of horses and cows you know
Shouldnt you like to know about them Luke«
»Nay Miss In got to keep count o the flour an corn I cant do wi
knowin so many things besides my work Thats what brings folks to the gallows
knowin everything but what theyn got to get their bread by An theyre
mostly lies I think whats printed i the books them printed sheets are
anyhow as the men cry i the streets«
»Why youre like my brother Tom Luke« said Maggie wishing to turn the
conversation agreeably »Toms not fond of reading I love Tom so dearly Luke
better than anybody else in the world When he grows up I shall keep his house
and we shall always live together I can tell him everything he doesnt know
But I think Toms clever for all he doesnt like books he makes beautiful
whipcord and rabbitpens«
»Ah« said Luke »but hell be fine an vexed as the rabbits are all dead«
»Dead« screamed Maggie jumping up from her sliding seat on the corn »O
dear Luke What the lopeared one and the spotted doe that Tom spent all his
money to buy«
»As dead as moles« said Luke fetching his comparison from the unmistakable
corpses nailed to the stablewall
»O dear Luke« said Maggie in a piteous tone while the big tears rolled
down her cheek »Tom told me to take care of em and I forgot What shall I
do«
»Well you see Miss they were in that far toolhouse an it was nobodys
business to see to em I reckon Master Tom told Harry to feed em but theres
no countin on Harry hes an offal creatur as iver come about the primises he
is He remembers nothing but his own inside an I wish it ud gripe him«
»O Luke Tom told me to be sure and remember the rabbits every day but how
could I when they didnt come into my head you know O he will be so angry
with me I know he will and so sorry about his rabbits and so am I sorry O
what shall I do«
»Dont you fret Miss« said Luke soothingly »theyre nash things them
lopeared rabbits theyd happen ha died if theyd been fed Things out o
natur niver thrive God Amighty doesnt like em He made the rabbits ears to
lie back an its nothin but contrairiness to make em hing down like a
mastiff dogs Master Tom ull know better nor buy such things another time
Dont you fret Miss Will you come along home wi me and see my wife Im
agoin this minute«
The invitation offered an agreeable distraction to Maggies grief and her
tears gradually subsided as she trotted along by Lukes side to his pleasant
cottage which stood with its apple and pear trees and with the added dignity
of a leanto pigsty at the other end of the Mill fields Mrs Moggs Lukes
wife was a decidedly agreeable acquaintance She exhibited her hospitality in
bread and treacle and possessed various works of art Maggie actually forgot
that she had any special cause of sadness this morning as she stood on a chair
to look at a remarkable series of pictures representing the Prodigal Son in the
costume of Sir Charles Grandison except that as might have been expected from
his defective moral character he had not like that accomplished hero the
taste and strength of mind to dispense with a wig But the indefinable weight
the dead rabbits had left on her mind caused her to feel more than usual pity
for the career of this weak young man particularly when she looked at the
picture where he leaned against a tree with a flaccid appearance his
kneebreeches unbuttoned and his wig awry while the swine apparently of some
foreign breed seemed to insult him by their good spirits over their feast of
husks
»Im very glad his father took him back again arent you Luke« she said
»For he was very sorry you know and wouldnt do wrong again«
»Eh Miss« said Luke »hed be no great shakes I doubt lets feyther do
what he would for him«
That was a painful thought to Maggie and she wished much that the
subsequent history of the young man had not been left a blank
Chapter V
Tom Comes Home
Tom was to arrive early in the afternoon and there was another fluttering heart
besides Maggies when it was late enough for the sound of the gigwheels to be
expected for if Mrs Tulliver had a strong feeling it was fondness for her
boy At last the sound came that quick light bowling of the gigwheels and
in spite of the wind which was blowing the clouds about and was not likely to
respect Mrs Tullivers curls and capstrings she came outside the door and
even held her hand on Maggies offending head forgetting all the griefs of the
morning
»There he is my sweet lad But Lord ha mercy hes got never a collar on
its been lost on the road Ill be bound and spoilt the set«
Mrs Tulliver stood with her arms open Maggie jumped first on one leg and
then on the other while Tom descended from the gig and said with masculine
reticence as to the tender emotions »Hallo Yap what are you there«
Nevertheless he submitted to be kissed willingly enough though Maggie hung
on his neck in rather a strangling fashion while his bluegrey eyes wandered
towards the croft and the lambs and the river where he promised himself that he
would begin to fish the first thing tomorrow morning He was one of those lads
that grow everywhere in England and at twelve or thirteen years of age look
as much alike as goslings a lad with lightbrown hair cheeks of cream and
roses full lips indeterminate nose and eyebrows a physiognomy in which it
seems impossible to discern anything but the generic character of boyhood as
different as possible from poor Maggies phiz which Nature seemed to have
moulded and coloured with the most decided intention But that same Nature has
the deep cunning which hides itself under the appearance of openness so that
simple people think they can see through her quite well and all the while she
is secretly preparing a refutation of their confident prophecies Under these
average boyish physiognomies that she seems to turn off by the gross she
conceals some of her most rigid inflexible purposes some of her most
unmodifiable characters and the darkeyed demonstrative rebellious girl may
after all turn out to be a passive being compared with this pinkandwhite bit
of masculinity with the indeterminate features
»Maggie« said Tom confidentially taking her into a corner as soon as his
mother was gone out to examine his box and the warm parlour had taken off the
chill he had felt from the long drive »you dont know what Ive got in my
pockets« nodding his head up and down as a means of rousing her sense of
mystery
»No« said Maggie »How stodgy they look Tom Is it marls marbles or
cobnuts« Maggies heart sank a little because Tom always said it was »no good«
playing with her at those games she played so badly
»Marls no Ive swopped all my marls with the little fellows and cobnuts
are no fun you silly only when the nuts are green But see here« He drew
something half out of his righthand pocket
»What is it« said Maggie in a whisper »I can see nothing but a bit of
yellow«
»Why its a new guess Maggie«
»O I cant guess Tom« said Maggie impatiently
»Dont be a spitfire else I wont tell you« said Tom thrusting his hand
back into his pocket and looking determined
»No Tom« said Maggie imploringly laying hold of the arm that was held
stiffly in the pocket »Im not cross Tom it was only because I cant bear
guessing Please be good to me«
Toms arm slowly relaxed and he said »Well then its a new fishline
two new uns one for you Maggie all to yourself I wouldnt go halves in the
toffee and gingerbread on purpose to save the money and Gibson and Spouncer
fought with me because I wouldnt And heres hooks see here I say wont
we go and fish tomorrow down by the Round Pool And you shall catch your own
fish Maggie and put the worms on and everything wont it be fun«
Maggies answer was to throw her arms round Toms neck and hug him and hold
her cheek against his without speaking while he slowly unwound some of the
line saying after a pause
»Wasnt I a good brother now to buy you a line all to yourself You know
I neednt have bought it if I hadnt liked«
»Yes very very good I do love you Tom«
Tom had put the line back in his pocket and was looking at he hooks one by
one before he spoke again
»And the fellows fought me because I wouldnt give in about the toffee«
»O dear I wish they wouldnt fight at your school Tom Didnt it hurt
you«
»Hurt me no« said Tom putting up the hooks again taking out a large
pocketknife and slowly opening the largest blade which he looked at
meditatively as he rubbed his finger along it Then he added
»I gave Spouncer a black eye I know thats what he got by wanting to
leather me I wasnt going to go halves because anybody leathered me«
»O how brave you are Tom I think youre like Samson If there came a lion
roaring at me I think youd fight him wouldnt you Tom«
»How can a lion come roaring at you you silly thing Theres no lions only
in the shows«
»No but if we were in the lion countries I mean in Africa where its
very hot the lions eat people there I can show it you in the book where I
read it«
»Well I should get a gun and shoot him«
»But if you hadnt got a gun we might have gone out you know not
thinking just as we go fishing and then a great lion might run towards us
roaring and we couldnt get away from him What should you do Tom«
Tom paused and at last turned away contemptuously saying »But the lion
isnt coming Whats the use of talking«
»But I like to fancy how it would be« said Maggie following him »Just
think what you would do Tom«
»O dont bother Maggie youre such a silly I shall go and see my
rabbits«
Maggies heart began to flutter with fear She dared not tell the sad truth
at once but she walked after Tom in trembling silence as he went out thinking
how she could tell him the news so as to soften at once his sorrow and his
anger for Maggie dreaded Toms anger of all things it was quite a different
anger from her own
»Tom« she said timidly when they were out of doors »how much money did
you give for your rabbits«
»Two halfcrowns and a sixpence« said Tom promptly
»I think Ive got a great deal more than that in my steel purse upstairs
Ill ask mother to give it you«
»What for« said Tom »I dont want your money you silly thing Ive got a
great deal more money than you because Im a boy I always have halfsovereigns
and sovereigns for my Christmas boxes because I shall be a man and you only
have fiveshilling pieces because youre only a girl«
»Well but Tom if mother would let me give you two halfcrowns and a
sixpence out of my purse to put into your pocket and spend you know and buy
some more rabbits with it«
»More rabbits I dont want any more«
»O but Tom theyre all dead«
Tom stopped immediately in his walk and turned round towards Maggie »You
forgot to feed em then and Harry forgot« he said his colour heightening for
a moment but soon subsiding »Ill pitch into Harry Ill have him turned
away And I dont love you Maggie You shant go fishing with me tomorrow I
told you to go and see the rabbits every day« He walked on again
»Yes but I forgot and I couldnt help it indeed Tom Im so very
sorry« said Maggie while the tears rushed fast
»Youre a naughty girl« said Tom severely »and Im sorry I bought you the
fishline I dont love you«
»O Tom its very cruel« sobbed Maggie »Id forgive you if you forgot
anything I wouldnt mind what you did Id forgive you and love you«
»Yes youre a silly but I never do forget things I dont«
»O please forgive me Tom my heart will break« said Maggie shaking with
sobs clinging to Toms arm and laying her wet cheek on his shoulder
Tom shook her off and stopped again saying in a peremptory tone »Now
Maggie you just listen Arent I a good brother to you«
»Yeyees« sobbed Maggie her chin rising and falling convulsedly
»Didnt I think about your fishline all this quarter and mean to buy it
and saved my money o purpose and wouldnt go halves in the toffee and
Spouncer fought me because I wouldnt«
»Yeyees and I lololove you so Tom«
»But youre a naughty girl Last holidays you licked the paint off my
lozenge box and the holidays before that you let the boat drag my fishline
down when Id set you to watch it and you pushed your head through my kite all
for nothing«
»But I didnt mean« said Maggie »I couldnt help it«
»Yes you could« said Tom »if youd minded what you were doing And youre
a naughty girl and you shant go fishing with me tomorrow«
With this terrible conclusion Tom ran away from Maggie towards the mill
meaning to greet Luke there and complain to him of Harry
Maggie stood motionless except from her sobs for a minute or two then she
turned round and ran into the house and up to her attic where she sat on the
floor and laid her head against the wormeaten shelf with a crushing sense of
misery Tom was come home and she had thought how happy she should be and now
he was cruel to her What use was anything if Tom didnt love her O he was
very cruel Hadnt she wanted to give him the money and said how very sorry she
was She knew she was naughty to her mother but she had never been naughty to
Tom had never meant to be naughty to him
»O he is cruel« Maggie sobbed aloud finding a wretched pleasure in the
hollow resonance that came through the long empty space of the attic She never
thought of beating or grinding her Fetish she was too miserable to be angry
These bitter sorrows of childhood when sorrow is all new and strange when
hope has not yet got wings to fly beyond the days and weeks and the space from
summer to summer seems measureless
Maggie soon thought she had been hours in the attic and it must be
teatime and they were all having their tea and not thinking of her Well
then she would stay up there and starve herself hide herself behind the tub
and stay there all night and then they would all be frightened and Tom would
be sorry Thus Maggie thought in the pride of her heart as she crept behind the
tub but presently she began to cry again at the idea that they didnt mind her
being there If she went down again to Tom now would he forgive her perhaps
her father would be there and he would take her part But then she wanted Tom
to forgive her because he loved her not because his father told him No she
would never go down if Tom didnt come to fetch her This resolution lasted in
great intensity for five dark minutes behind the tub but then the need of being
loved the strongest need in poor Maggies nature began to wrestle with her
pride and soon threw it She crept from behind her tub into the twilight of the
long attic but just then she heard a quick footstep on the stairs
Tom had been too much interested in his talk with Luke in going the round
of the premises walking in and out where he pleased and whittling sticks
without any particular reason except that he didnt whittle sticks at school
to think of Maggie and the effect his anger had produced on her He meant to
punish her and that business having been performed he occupied himself with
other matters like a practical person But when he had been called in to tea
his father said »Why wheres the little wench« and Mrs Tulliver almost at
the same moment said »Wheres your little sister« both of them having
supposed that Maggie and Tom had been together all the afternoon
»I dont know« said Tom He didnt want to »tell« of Maggie though he was
angry with her for Tom Tulliver was a lad of honour
»What hasnt she been playing with you all this while« said the father
»Shed been thinking o nothing but your coming home«
»I havent seen her this two hours« says Tom commencing on the plumcake
»Goodness heart shes got drownded« exclaimed Mrs Tulliver rising from
her seat and running to the window »How could you let her do so« she added as
became a fearful woman accusing she didnt know whom of she didnt know what
»Nay nay shes none drownded« said Mr Tulliver »Youve been naughty to
her I doubt Tom«
»Im sure I havent father« said Tom indignantly »I think shes in the
house«
»Perhaps up in that attic« said Mrs Tulliver »asinging and talking to
herself and forgetting all about mealtimes«
»You go and fetch her down Tom« said Mr Tulliver rather sharply his
perspicacity or his fatherly fondness for Maggie making him suspect that the lad
had been hard upon »the little un« else she would never have left his side
»And be good to her do you hear Else Ill let you know better«
Tom never disobeyed his father for Mr Tulliver was a peremptory man and
as he said would never let anybody get hold of his whiphand but he went out
rather sullenly carrying his piece of plumcake and not intending to reprieve
Maggies punishment which was no more than she deserved Tom was only thirteen
and had no decided views in grammar and arithmetic regarding them for the most
part as open questions but he was particularly clear and positive on one point
namely that he would punish everybody who deserved it why he wouldnt have
minded being punished himself if he deserved it but then he never did
deserve it
It was Toms step then that Maggie heard on the stairs when her need of
love had triumphed over her pride and she was going down with her swollen eyes
and dishevelled hair to beg for pity At least her father would stroke her head
and say »Never mind my wench« It is a wonderful subduer this need of love
this hunger of the heart as peremptory as that other hunger by which Nature
forces us to submit to the yoke and change the face of the world
But she knew Toms step and her heart began to beat violently with the
sudden shock of hope He only stood still at the top of the stairs and said
»Maggie youre to come down« But she rushed to him and clung round his neck
sobbing »O Tom please forgive me I cant bear it I will always be good
always remember things do love me please dear Tom«
We learn to restrain ourselves as we get older We keep apart when we have
quarrelled express ourselves in wellbred phrases and in this way preserve a
dignified alienation showing much firmness on one side and swallowing much
grief on the other We no longer approximate in our behaviour to the mere
impulsiveness of the lower animals but conduct ourselves in every respect like
members of a highly civilised society Maggie and Tom were still very much like
young animals and so she could rub her cheek against his and kiss his ear in a
random sobbing way and there were tender fibres in the lad that had been used
to answer to Maggies fondling so that he behaved with a weakness quite
inconsistent with his resolution to punish her as much as she deserved he
actually began to kiss her in return and say
»Dont cry then Magsie here eat a bit o cake«
Maggies sobs began to subside and she put out her mouth for the cake and
bit a piece and then Tom bit a piece just for company and they ate together
and rubbed each others cheeks and brows and noses together while they ate
with a humiliating resemblance to two friendly ponies
»Come along Magsie and have tea« said Tom at last when there was no more
cake except what was downstairs
So ended the sorrows of this day and the next morning Maggie was trotting
with her own fishingrod in one hand and a handle of the basket in the other
stepping always by a peculiar gift in the muddiest places and looking darkly
radiant from under her beaverbonnet because Tom was good to her She had told
Tom however that she should like him to put the worms on the hook for her
although she accepted his word when he assured her that worms couldnt feel it
was Toms private opinion that it didnt much matter if they did He knew all
about worms and fish and those things and what birds were mischievous and
how padlocks opened and which way the handles of the gates were to be lifted
Maggie thought this sort of knowledge was very wonderful much more difficult
than remembering what was in the books and she was rather in awe of Toms
superiority for he was the only person who called her knowledge »stuff« and
did not feel surprised at her cleverness Tom indeed was of opinion that
Maggie was a silly little thing all girls were silly they couldnt throw a
stone so as to hit anything couldnt do anything with a pocketknife and were
frightened at frogs Still he was very fond of his sister and meant always to
take care of her make her his housekeeper and punish her when she did wrong
They were on their way to the Round Pool that wonderful pool which the
floods had made a long while ago no one knew how deep it was and it was
mysterious too that it should be almost a perfect round framed in with
willows and tall reeds so that the water was only to be seen when you got close
to the brink The sight of the old favourite spot always heightened Toms
goodhumour and he spoke to Maggie in the most amicable whispers as he opened
the precious basket and prepared their tackle He threw her line for her and
put the rod into her hand Maggie thought it probable that the small fish would
come to her hook and the large ones to Toms But she had forgotten all about
the fish and was looking dreamily at the glassy water when Tom said in a loud
whisper »Look look Maggie« and came running to prevent her from snatching
her line away
Maggie was frightened lest she had been doing something wrong as usual but
presently Tom drew out her line and brought a large tench bouncing on the grass
Tom was excited
»O Magsie you little duck Empty the basket«
Maggie was not conscious of unusual merit but it was enough that Tom called
her Magsie and was pleased with her There was nothing to mar her delight in
the whispers and the dreamy silences when she listened to the light dipping
sounds of the rising fish and the gentle rustling as if the willows and the
reeds and the water had their happy whisperings also Maggie thought it would
make a very nice heaven to sit by the pool in that way and never be scolded
She never knew she had a bite till Tom told her but she liked fishing very
much
It was one of their happy mornings They trotted along and sat down
together with no thought that life would ever change much for them they would
only get bigger and not go to school and it would always be like the holidays
they would always live together and be fond of each other And the mill with its
booming the great chestnuttree under which they played at houses their own
little river the Ripple where the banks seemed like home and Tom was always
seeing the waterrats while Maggie gathered the purple plumy tops of the reeds
which she forgot and dropped afterwards above all the great Floss along
which they wandered with a sense of travel to see the rushing springtide the
awful Eagre come up like a hungry monster or to see the Great Ash which had
once wailed and groaned like a man these things would always be just the same
to them Tom thought people were at a disadvantage who lived on any other spot
of the globe and Maggie when she read about Christiana passing »the river over
which there is no bridge« always saw the Floss between the green pastures by
the Great Ash
Life did change for Tom and Maggie and yet they were not wrong in believing
that the thoughts and loves of these first years would always make part of their
lives We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in
it if it were not the earth where the same flowers come up again every spring
that we used to gather with our tiny fingers as we sat lisping to ourselves on
the grass the same hips and haws on the autumn hedgerows the same redbreasts
that we used to call »Gods birds« because they did no harm to the precious
crops What novelty is worth that sweet monotony where everything is known and
loved because it is known
The wood I walk in on this mild May day with the young yellowbrown foliage
of the oaks between me and the blue sky the white starflowers and the
blueeyed speedwell and the ground ivy at my feet what grove of tropic palms
what strange ferns or splendid broadpetalled blossoms could ever thrill such
deep and delicate fibres within me as this homescene These familiar flowers
these wellremembered birdnotes this sky with its fitful brightness these
furrowed and grassy fields each with a sort of personality given to it by the
capricious hedgerows such things as these are the mother tongue of our
imagination the language that is laden with all the subtle inextricable
associations the fleeting hours of our childhood left behind them Our delight
in the sunshine on the deepbladed grass today might be no more than the faint
perception of wearied souls if it were not for the sunshine and the grass in
the faroff years which still live in us and transform our perception into
love
Chapter VI
The Aunts and Uncles Are Coming
It was Easter week and Mrs Tullivers cheesecakes were more exquisitely light
than usual »a puff o wind ud make em blow about like feathers« Kezia the
housemaid said feeling proud to live under a mistress who could make such
pastry so that no season or circumstances could have been more propitious for a
family party even if it had not been advisable to consult sister Glegg and
sister Pullet about Toms going to school
»Id as lief not invite sister Deane this time« said Mrs Tulliver »for
shes as jealous and having as can be and s allays trying to make the worst o
my poor children to their aunts and uncles«
»Yes yes« said Mr Tulliver »ask her to come I never hardly get a bit o
talk with Deane now we havent had him this six months Whats it matter what
she says my children need be beholding to nobody«
»Thats what you allays say Mr Tulliver but Im sure theres nobody o
your side neither aunt nor uncle to leave em so much as a fivepound note for
a leggicy And theres sister Glegg and sister Pullet too saving money unknown
for they put by all their own interest and buttermoney too their husbands
buy em everything« Mrs Tulliver was a mild woman but even a sheep will face
about a little when she has lambs
»Tchuh« said Mr Tulliver »It takes a big loaf when theres many to
breakfast What signifies your sisters bits o money when theyve got
halfadozen nevvies and nieces to divide it among And your sister Deane wont
get em to leave all to one I reckon and make the country cry shame on em
when they are dead«
»I dont know what she wont get em to do« said Mrs Tulliver »for my
children are so awkard wi their aunts and uncles Maggies ten times naughtier
when they come than she is other days and Tom doesnt like em bless him
though its more natral in a boy than a gell And theres Lucy Deane s such a
good child you may set her on a stool and there shell sit for an hour
together and never offer to get off I cant help loving the child as if she
was my own and Im sure shes more like my child than sister Deanes for shed
allays a very poor colour for one of our family sister Deane had«
»Well well if youre fond o the child ask her father and mother to bring
her with em And wont you ask their aunt and uncle Moss too and some o their
children«
»O dear Mr Tulliver why thered be eight people besides the children
and I must put two more leaves i the table besides reaching down more o the
dinnerservice and you know as well as I do as my sisters and your sister
dont suit well together«
»Well well do as you like Bessy« said Mr Tulliver taking up his hat
and walking out to the mill Few wives were more submissive than Mrs Tulliver
on all points unconnected with her family relations but she had been a Miss
Dodson and the Dodsons were a very respectable family indeed as much looked
up to as any in their own parish or the next to it The Miss Dodsons had always
been thought to hold up their heads very high and no one was surprised the two
eldest had married so well not at an early age for that was not the practice
of the Dodson family There were particular ways of doing everything in that
family particular ways of bleaching the linen of making the cowslip wine
curing the hams and keeping the bottled gooseberries so that no daughter of
that house could be indifferent to the privilege of having been born a Dodson
rather than a Gibson or a Watson Funerals were always conducted with peculiar
propriety in the Dodson family the hatbands were never of a blue shade the
gloves never split at the thumb everybody was a mourner who ought to be and
there were always scarfs for the bearers When one of the family was in trouble
or sickness all the rest went to visit the unfortunate member usually at the
same time and did not shrink from uttering the most disagreeable truths that
correct family feeling dictated if the illness or trouble was the sufferers
own fault it was not in the practice of the Dodson family to shrink from saying
so In short there was in this family a peculiar tradition as to what was the
right thing in household management and social demeanour and the only bitter
circumstance attending this superiority was a painful inability to approve the
condiments or the conduct of families ungoverned by the Dodson tradition A
female Dodson when in »strange houses« always ate dry bread with her tea and
declined any sort of preserves having no confidence in the butter and thinking
that the preserves had probably begun to ferment from want of due sugar and
boiling There were some Dodsons less like the family than others that was
admitted but in so far as they were »kin« they were of necessity better than
those who were »no kin« And it is remarkable that while no individual Dodson
was satisfied with any other individual Dodson each was satisfied not only
with him or her self but with the Dodsons collectively The feeblest member of
a family the one who has the least character is often the merest epitome of
the family habits and traditions and Mrs Tulliver was a thorough Dodson
though a mild one as smallbeer so long as it is anything is only describable
as very weak ale and though she had groaned a little in her youth under the
yoke of her elder sisters and still shed occasional tears at their sisterly
reproaches it was not in Mrs Tulliver to be an innovator on the family ideas
She was thankful to have been a Dodson and to have one child who took after her
own family at least in his features and complexion in liking salt and in
eating beans which a Tulliver never did
In other respects the true Dodson was partly latent in Tom and he was as
far from appreciating his »kin« on the mothers side as Maggie herself
generally absconding for the day with a large supply of the most portable food
when he received timely warning that his aunts and uncles were coming a moral
symptom from which his aunt Glegg deduced the gloomiest views of his future It
was rather hard on Maggie that Tom always absconded without letting her into the
secret but the weaker sex are acknowledged to be serious impedimenta in cases
of flight
On Wednesday the day before the aunts and uncles were coming there were
such various and suggestive scents as of plumcakes in the oven and jellies in
the hot state mingled with the aroma of gravy that it was impossible to feel
altogether gloomy there was hope in the air Tom and Maggie made several
inroads into the kitchen and like other marauders were induced to keep aloof
for a time only by being allowed to carry away a sufficient load of booty
»Tom« said Maggie as they sat on the boughs of the eldertree eating
their jam puffs »shall you run away tomorrow«
»No« said Tom slowly when he had finished his puff and was eyeing the
third which was to be divided between them »No I shant«
»Why Tom Because Lucys coming«
»No« said Tom opening his pocketknife and holding it over the puff with
his head on one side in a dubitative manner It was a difficult problem to
divide that very irregular polygon into two equal parts »What do I care about
Lucy Shes only a girl she cant play at bandy«
»Is it the tipsycake then« said Maggie exerting her hypothetic powers
while she leaned forward towards Tom with her eyes fixed on the hovering knife
»No you silly thatll be good the day after Its the pudden I know what
the puddens to be apricot rollup O my buttons«
With this interjection the knife descended on the puff and it was in two
but the result was not satisfactory to Tom for he still eyed the halves
doubtfully At last he said
»Shut your eyes Maggie«
»What for«
»You never mind what for Shut em when I tell you«
Maggie obeyed
»Now whichll you have Maggie right hand or left«
»Ill have that with the jam run out« said Maggie keeping her eyes shut to
please Tom
»Why you dont like that you silly You may have it if it comes to you
fair but I shant give it you without Right or left you choose now
Haaa« said Tom in a tone of exasperation as Maggie peeped »You keep your
eyes shut now else you shant have any«
Maggies power of sacrifice did not extend so far indeed I fear she cared
less that Tom should enjoy the utmost possible amount of puff than that he
should be pleased with her for giving him the best bit So she shut her eyes
quite close till Tom told her to »say which« and then she said »Lefthand«
»Youve got it« said Tom in rather a bitter tone
»What the bit with the jam run out«
»No here take it« said Tom firmly handing decidedly the best piece to
Maggie
»O please Tom have it I dont mind I like the other please take
this«
»No I shant« said Tom almost crossly beginning on his own inferior
piece
Maggie thinking it was no use to contend further began too and ate up her
half puff with considerable relish as well as rapidity But Tom had finished
first and had to look on while Maggie ate her last morsel or two feeling in
himself a capacity for more Maggie didnt know Tom was looking at her she was
seesawing on the elder bough lost to almost everything but a vague sense of jam
and idleness
»O you greedy thing« said Tom when she had swallowed the last morsel He
was conscious of having acted very fairly and thought she ought to have
considered this and made up to him for it He would have refused a bit of hers
beforehand but one is naturally at a different point of view before and after
ones own share of puff is swallowed
Maggie turned quite pale »O Tom why didnt you ask me«
»I wasnt going to ask you for a bit you greedy You might have thought of
it without when you knew I gave you the best bit«
»But I wanted you to have it you know I did« said Maggie in an injured
tone
»Yes but I wasnt going to do what wasnt fair like Spouncer He always
takes the best bit if you dont punch him for it and if you choose the best
with your eyes shut he changes his hands But if I go halves Ill go em fair
only I wouldnt be a greedy«
With this cutting innuendo Tom jumped down from his bough and threw a
stone with a »hoigh« as a friendly attention to Yap who had also been looking
on while the eatables vanished with an agitation of his ears and feelings which
could hardly have been without bitterness Yet the excellent dog accepted Toms
attention with as much alacrity as if he had been treated quite generously
But Maggie gifted with that superior power of misery which distinguishes
the human being and places him at a proud distance from the most melancholy
chimpanzee sat still on her bough and gave herself up to the keen sense of
unmerited reproach She would have given the world not to have eaten all her
puff and to have saved some of it for Tom Not but that the puff was very nice
for Maggies palate was not at all obtuse but she would have gone without it
many times over sooner than Tom should call her greedy and be cross with her
And he had said he wouldnt have it and she ate it without thinking how
could she help it The tears flowed so plentifully that Maggie saw nothing
around her for the next ten minutes but by that time resentment began to give
way to the desire of reconciliation and she jumped from her bough to look for
Tom He was no longer in the paddock behind the rickyard where was he likely
to be gone and Yap with him Maggie ran to the high bank against the great
hollytree where she could see far away towards the Floss There was Tom but
her heart sank again as she saw how far off he was on his way to the great
river and that he had another companion besides Yap naughty Bob Jakin whose
official if not natural function of frightening the birds was just now at a
standstill Maggie felt sure that Bob was wicked without very distinctly
knowing why unless it was because Bobs mother was a dreadfully large fat
woman who lived at a queer round house down the river and once when Maggie
and Tom had wandered thither there rushed out a brindled dog that wouldnt stop
barking and when Bobs mother came out after it and screamed above the barking
to tell them not to be frightened Maggie thought she was scolding them
fiercely and her heart beat with terror Maggie thought it very likely that the
round house had snakes on the floor and bats in the bedroom for she had seen
Bob take off his cap to show Tom a little snake that was inside it and another
time he had a handful of young bats altogether he was an irregular character
perhaps even slightly diabolical judging from his intimacy with snakes and
bats and to crown all when Tom had Bob for a companion he didnt mind about
Maggie and would never let her go with him
It must be owned that Tom was fond of Bobs company How could it be
otherwise Bob knew directly he saw a birds egg whether it was a swallows
or a tomtits or a yellowhammers he found out all the wasps nests and
could set all sorts of traps he could climb the trees like a squirrel and had
quite a magical power of detecting hedgehogs and stoats and he had courage to
do things that were rather naughty such as making gaps in the hedgerows
throwing stones after the sheep and killing a cat that was wandering incognito
Such qualities in an inferior who could always be treated with authority in
spite of his superior knowingness had necessarily a fatal fascination for Tom
and every holidaytime Maggie was sure to have days of grief because he had gone
off with Bob
Well there was no hope for it he was gone now and Maggie could think of
no comfort but to sit down by the holly or wander by the hedgerow and fancy it
was all different refashioning her little world into just what she should like
it to be
Maggies was a troublous life and this was the form in which she took her
opium
Meanwhile Tom forgetting all about Maggie and the sting of reproach which
he had left in her heart was hurrying along with Bob whom he had met
accidentally to the scene of a great ratcatching in a neighbouring barn Bob
knew all about this particular affair and spoke of the sport with an enthusiasm
which no one who is not either divested of all manly feeling or pitiably
ignorant of ratcatching can fail to imagine For a person suspected of
preternatural wickedness Bob was really not so very villanouslooking there
was even something agreeable in his snubnosed face with its closecurled
border of red hair But then his trousers were always rolled up at the knee for
the convenience of wading on the slightest notice and his virtue supposing it
to exist was undeniably »virtue in rags« which on the authority even of
bilious philosophers who think all welldressed merit overpaid is notoriously
likely to remain unrecognised perhaps because it is seen so seldom
»I know the chap as owns the ferrets« said Bob in a hoarse treble voice
as he shuffled along keeping his blue eyes fixed on the river like an
amphibious animal who foresaw occasion for darting in »He lives up the Kennel
Yard at Sut Oggs he does Hes the biggest rotcatcher anywhere he is Id
sooner be a rotcatcher nor anything I would The moles is nothing to the
rots But Lors you mun ha ferrets Dogs is no good Why theres that dog
now« Bob continued pointing with an air of disgust towards Yap »hes no more
good wi a rot nor nothin I see it myself I did at the rotcatchin i
your feythers barn«
Yap feeling the withering influence of this scorn tucked his tail in and
shrank close to Toms leg who felt a little hurt for him but had not the
superhuman courage to seem behindhand with Bob in contempt for a dog who made so
poor a figure
»No no« he said »Yaps no good at sport Ill have regular good dogs for
rats and everything when Ive done school«
»Hev ferrets Measter Tom« said Bob eagerly »them white ferrets wi
pink eyes Lors you might catch your own rots an you might put a rot in a
cage wi a ferret an see em fight you might Thats what Id do I know
an it ud be better fun a most nor seein two chaps fight if it wasnt them
chaps as sold cakes an oranges at the Fair as the things flew out o their
baskets an some o the cakes was smashed But they tasted just as good«
added Bob by way of note or addendum after a moments pause
»But I say Bob« said Tom in a tone of deliberation »ferrets are asty
biting things theyll bite a fellow without being set on«
»Lors why thats the beauty on em If a chap lays hold o your ferret he
wont be long before he hollows out a good un he wont«
At this moment a striking incident made the boys pause suddenly in their
walk It was the plunging of some small body in the water from among the
neighbouring bulrushes if it was not a waterrat Bob intimated that he was
ready to undergo the most unpleasant consequences
»Hoigh Yap hoigh there he is« said Tom clapping his hands as the
little black snout made its arrowy course to the opposite bank »Seize him lad
seize him«
Yap agitated his ears and wrinkled his brows but declined to plunge trying
whether barking would not answer the purpose just as well
»Ugh you coward« said Tom and kicked him over feeling humiliated as a
sportsman to possess so poorspirited an animal Bob abstained from remark and
passed on choosing however to walk in the shallow edge of the overflowing
river by way of change
»Hes none so full now the Floss isnt« said Bob as he kicked the water
up before him with an agreeable sense of being insolent to it »Why last ear
the meadows was all one sheet o water they was«
»Ay but« said Tom whose mind was prone to see an opposition between
statements that were really quite accordant »but there was a big flood once
when the Round Pool was made I know there was cause father says so And the
sheep and cows were all drowned and the boats went all over the fields ever
such a way«
»I dont care about a flood comin« said Bob »I dont mind the water no
more nor the land Id swim I would«
»Ah but if you got nothing to eat for ever so long« said Tom his
imagination becoming quite active under the stimulus of that dread »When Im a
man I shall make a boat with a wooden house on the top of it like Noahs ark
and keep plenty to eat in it rabbits and things all ready And then if the
flood came you know Bob I shouldnt mind And Id take you in if I saw
you swimming« he added in the tone of a benevolent patron
»I arent frighted« said Bob to whom hunger did not appear so appalling
»But Id get in an knock the rabbits on th head when you wanted to eat em«
»Ah and I should have halfpence and wed play at headsandtails« said
Tom not contemplating the possibility that this recreation might have fewer
charms for his mature age »Id divide fair to begin with and then wed see
whod win«
»Ive got a halfpenny o my own« said Bob proudly coming out of the water
and tossing his halfpenny in the air »Yeads or tails«
»Tails« said Tom instantly fired with the desire to win
»Its yeads« said Bob hastily snatching up the halfpenny as it fell
»It wasnt« said Tom loudly and peremptorily »You give me the halfpenny
Ive won it fair«
»I shant« said Bob holding it tight in his pocket
»Then Ill make you see if I dont« said Tom
»You cant make me do nothing you cant« said Bob
»Yes I can«
»No you cant«
»Im master«
»I dont care for you«
»But Ill make you care you cheat« said Tom collaring Bob and shaking
him
»You get out wi you« said Bob giving Tom a kick
Toms blood was thoroughly up he went at Bob with a lunge and threw him
down but Bob seized hold and kept it like a cat and pulled Tom down after him
They struggled fiercely on the ground for a moment or two till Tom pinning Bob
down by the shoulders thought he had the mastery
»You say youll give me the halfpenny now« he said with difficulty while
he exerted himself to keep the command of Bobs arms
But at this moment Yap who had been running on before returned barking to
the scene of action and saw a favourable opportunity for biting Bobs bare leg
not only with impunity but with honour The pain from Yaps teeth instead of
surprising Bob into a relaxation of his hold gave it a fiercer tenacity and
with a new exertion of his force he pushed Tom backward and got uppermost But
now Yap who could get no sufficient purchase before set his teeth in a new
place so that Bob harassed in this way let go his hold of Tom and almost
throttling Yap flung him into the river By this time Tom was up again and
before Bob had quite recovered his balance after the act of swinging Yap Tom
fell upon him threw him down and got his knees firmly on Bobs chest
»You give me the halfpenny now« said Tom
»Take it« said Bob sulkily
»No I shant take it you give it me«
Bob took the halfpenny out of his pocket and threw it away from him on the
ground
Tom loosed his hold and left Bob to rise
»There the halfpenny lies« he said »I dont want your halfpenny I
wouldnt have kept it But you wanted to cheat I hate a cheat I shant go
along with you any more« he added turning round homeward not without casting
a regret towards the ratcatching and other pleasures which he must relinquish
along with Bobs society
»You may let it alone then« Bob called out after him »I shall cheat if I
like theres no fun i playing else and I know where theres a goldfinchs
nest but Ill take care you dont An youre a nasty fightin turkeycock
you are «
Tom walked on without looking round and Yap followed his example the cold
bath having moderated his passions
»Go along wi you then wi your drownded dog I wouldnt own such a dog
I wouldnt« said Bob getting louder in a last effort to sustain his defiance
But Tom was not to be provoked into turning round and Bobs voice began to
falter a little as he said
»An In gien you everything an showed you everything an niver wanted
nothin from you An theres your hornhanded knife then as you gien me«
Here Bob flung the knife as far as he could after Toms retreating
footsteps But it produced no effect except the sense in Bobs mind that there
was a terrible void in his lot now that knife was gone
He stood still till Tom had passed through the gate and disappeared behind
the hedge The knife would do no good on the ground there it wouldnt vex Tom
and pride or resentment was a feeble passion in Bobs mind compared with the
love of a pocketknife His very fingers sent entreating thrills that he would
go and clutch that familiar rough buckshorn handle which they had so often
grasped for mere affection as it lay idle in his pocket And there were two
blades and they had just been sharpened What is life without a pocketknife to
him who has once tasted a higher existence No to throw the handle after the
hatchet is a comprehensible act of desperation but to throw ones pocketknife
after an implacable friend is clearly in every sense a hyperbole or throwing
beyond the mark So Bob shuffled back to the spot where the beloved knife lay in
the dirt and felt quite a new pleasure in clutching it again after the
temporary separation in opening one blade after the other and feeling their
edge with his wellhardened thumb Poor Bob he was not sensitive on the point
of honour not a chivalrous character That fine moral aroma would not have
been thought much of by the public opinion of Kennel Yard which was the very
focus or heart of Bobs world even if it could have made itself perceptible
there yet for all that he was not utterly a sneak and a thief as our friend
Tom had hastily decided
But Tom you perceive was rather a Rhadamanthine personage having more
than the usual share of boys justice in him the justice that desires to hurt
culprits as much as they deserve to be hurt and is troubled with no doubts
concerning the exact amount of their deserts Maggie saw a cloud on his brow
when he came home which checked her joy at his coming so much sooner than she
had expected and she dared hardly speak to him as he stood silently throwing
the small gravelstones into the milldam It is not pleasant to give up a
ratcatching when you have set your mind on it But if Tom had told his
strongest feeling at that moment he would have said »Id do just the same
again« That was his usual mode of viewing his past actions whereas Maggie was
always wishing she had done something different
Chapter VII
Enter the Aunts and Uncles
The Dodsons were certainly a handsome family and Mrs Glegg was not the least
handsome of the sisters As she sat in Mrs Tullivers armchair no impartial
observer could have denied that for a woman of fifty she had a very comely face
and figure though Tom and Maggie considered their aunt Glegg as the type of
ugliness It is true she despised the advantages of costume for though as she
often observed no woman had better clothes it was not her way to wear her new
things out before her old ones Other women if they liked might have their
best threadlace in every wash but when Mrs Glegg died it would be found that
she had better lace laid by in the righthand drawer of her wardrobe in the
Spotted Chamber than ever Mrs Wooll of St Oggs had bought in her life
although Mrs Wooll wore her lace before it was paid for So of her curled
fronts Mrs Glegg had doubtless the glossiest and crispest brown curls in her
drawers as well as curls in various degrees of fuzzy laxness but to look out
on the weekday world from under a crisp and glossy front would be to introduce
a most dreamlike and unpleasant confusion between the sacred and the secular
Occasionally indeed Mrs Glegg wore one of her thirdbest fronts on a weekday
visit but not at a sisters house especially not at Mrs Tullivers who
since her marriage had hurt her sisters feelings greatly by wearing her own
hair though as Mrs Glegg observed to Mrs Deane a mother of a family like
Bessy with a husband always going to law might have been expected to know
better But Bessy was always weak
So if Mrs Gleggs front today was more fuzzy and lax than usual she had a
design under it she intended the most pointed and cutting allusion to Mrs
Tullivers bunches of blond curls separated from each other by a due wave of
smoothness on each side of the parting Mrs Tulliver had shed tears several
times at sister Gleggs unkindness on the subject of these unmatronly curls but
the consciousness of looking the handsomer for them naturally administered
support Mrs Glegg chose to wear her bonnet in the house today untied and
tilted slightly of course a frequent practice of hers when she was on a
visit and happened to be in a severe humour she didnt know what draughts
there might be in strange houses For the same reason she wore a small sable
tippet which reached just to her shoulders and was very far from meeting
across her wellformed chest while her long neck was protected by a
chevauxdefrise of miscellaneous frilling One would need to be learned in the
fashions of those times to know how far in the rear of them Mrs Gleggs
slatecoloured silkgown must have been but from certain constellations of
small yellow spots upon it and a mouldy odour about it suggestive of a damp
clotheschest it was probable that it belonged to a stratum of garments just
old enough to have come recently into wear
Mrs Glegg held her large gold watch in her hand with the manydoubled chain
round her fingers and observed to Mrs Tulliver who had just returned from a
visit to the kitchen that whatever it might be by other peoples clocks and
watches it was gone halfpast twelve by hers
»I dont know what ails sister Pullet« she continued »It used to be the
way in our family for one to be as early as another Im sure it was so in my
poor fathers time and not for one sister to sit half an hour before the
others came But if the ways o the family are altered it shant be my fault
Ill never be the one to come into a house when all the rest are going away I
wonder at sister Deane she used to be more like me But if youll take my
advice Bessy youll put the dinner forrard a bit sooner than put it back
because folks are late as ought to ha known better«
»O dear theres no fear but what theyll be all here in time sister« said
Mrs Tulliver in her mildpeevish tone »The dinner wont be ready till
halfpast one But if its long for you to wait let me fetch you a cheesecake
and a glaas o wine«
»Well Bessy« said Mrs Glegg with a bitter smile and a scarcely
perceptible toss of her head »I should ha thought youd known your own sister
better I never did eat between meals and Im not going to begin Not but what
I hate that nonsense of having your dinner at halfpast one when you might have
it at one You was never brought up in that way Bessy«
»Why Jane what can I do Mr Tulliver doesnt like his dinner before two
oclock but I put it half an hour earlier because o you«
»Yes yes I know how it is with husbands theyre for putting everything
off theyll put the dinner off till after tea if theyve got wives as are
weak enough to give in to such work but its a pity for you Bessy as you
havent got more strength o mind Itll be well if your children dont suffer
for it And I hope youve not gone and got a great dinner for us going to
expense for your sisters as ud sooner eat a crust o dry bread nor help to
ruin you with extravagance I wonder you dont take pattern by your sister Deane
shes far more sensible And here youve got two children to provide for and
your husbands spent your fortin i going to law ands likely to spend his own
too A boiled joint as you could make broth of for the kitchen« Mrs Glegg
added in a tone of emphatic protest »and a plain pudding with a spoonful o
sugar and no spice ud be far more becoming«
With sister Glegg in this humour there was a cheerful prospect for the day
Mrs Tulliver never went the length of quarrelling with her any more than a
waterfowl that puts out its leg in a deprecating manner can be said to quarrel
with a boy who throws stones But this point of the dinner was a tender one and
not at all new so that Mrs Tulliver could make the same answer she had often
made before
»Mr Tulliver says he always will have a good dinner for his friends while
he can pay for it« she said »and hes a right to do as he likes in his own
house sister«
»Well Bessy I cant leave your children enough out o my savings to keep
em from ruin And you mustnt look to having any o Mr Gleggs money for its
well if I dont go first he comes of a longlived family and if he was to die
and leave me well for my life hed tie all the money up to go back to his own
kin«
The sound of wheels while Mrs Glegg was speaking was an interruption highly
welcome to Mrs Tulliver who hastened out to receive sister Pullet it must be
sister Pullet because the sound was that of a fourwheel
Mrs Glegg tossed her head and looked rather sour about the mouth at the
thought of the »fourwheel« She had a strong opinion on that subject
Sister Pullet was in tears when the onehorse chaise stopped before Mrs
Tullivers door and it was apparently requisite that she should shed a few more
before getting out for though her husband and Mrs Tulliver stood ready to
support her she sat still and shook her head sadly as she looked through her
tears at the vague distance
»Why whativer is the matter sister« said Mrs Tulliver She was not an
imaginative woman but it occurred to her that the large toiletglass in sister
Pullets best bedroom was possibly broken for the second time
There was no reply but a further shake of the head as Mrs Pullet slowly
rose and got down from the chaise not without casting a glance at Mr Pullet to
see that he was guarding her handsome silk dress from injury Mr Pullet was a
small man with a high nose small twinkling eyes and thin lips in a
freshlooking suit of black and a white cravat that seemed to have been tied
very tight on some higher principle than that of mere personal ease He bore
about the same relation to his tall goodlooking wife with her balloon
sleeves abundant mantle and large befeathered and beribboned bonnet as a
small fishingsmack bears to a brig with all its sails spread
It is a pathetic sight and a striking example of the complexity introduced
into the emotions by a high state of civilisation the sight of a fashionably
drest female in grief From the sorrow of a Hottentot to that of a woman in
large buckram sleeves with several bracelets on each arm an architectural
bonnet and delicate ribbonstrings what a long series of gradations In the
enlightened child of civilisation the abandonment characteristic of grief is
checked and varied in the subtlest manner so as to present an interesting
problem to the analytic mind If with a crushed heart and eyes halfblinded by
the mist of tears she were to walk with a too devious step through a
doorplace she might crush her buckram sleeves too and the deep consciousness
of this possibility produces a composition of forces by which she takes a line
that just clears the doorpost Perceiving that the tears are hurrying fast she
unpins her strings and throws them languidly backward a touching gesture
indicative even in the deepest gloom of the hope in future dry moments when
capstrings will once more have a charm As the tears subside a little and with
her head leaning backward at the angle that will not injure her bonnet she
endures that terrible moment when grief which has made all things else a
weariness has itself become weary she looks down pensively at her bracelets
and adjusts their clasps with that pretty studied fortuity which would be
gratifying to her mind if it were once more in a calm and healthy state
Mrs Pullet brushed each doorpost with great nicety about the latitude of
her shoulders at that period a woman was truly ridiculous to an instructed eye
if she did not measure a yard and a half across the shoulders and having done
that sent the muscles of her face in quest of fresh tears as she advanced into
the parlour where Mrs Glegg was seated
»Well sister youre late whats the matter« said Mrs Glegg rather
sharply as they shook hands
Mrs Pullet sat down lifting up her mantle carefully behind before she
answered
»Shes gone« unconsciously using an impressive figure of rhetoric
»It isnt the glass this time then« thought Mrs Tulliver
»Died the day before yesterday« continued Mrs Pullet »an her legs was as
thick as my body« she added with deep sadness after a pause »Theyd tapped
her no end o times and the water they say you might ha swum in it if youd
liked«
»Well Sophy its a mercy shes gone then whoever she may be« said Mrs
Glegg with the promptitude and emphasis of a mind naturally clear and decided
»but I cant think who youre talking of for my part«
»But I know« said Mrs Pullet sighing and shaking her head »and there
isnt another such a dropsy in the parish I know as its old Mrs Sutton o the
Twentylands«
»Well shes no kin o yours nor much acquaintance as Ive ever heared of«
said Mrs Glegg who always cried just as much as was proper when anything
happened to her own »kin« but not on other occasions
»Shes so much acquaintance as Ive seen her legs when they was like
bladders And an old lady as had doubled her money over and over again and
kept it all in her own management to the last and had her pocket with her keys
in under her pillow constant There isnt many old parishners like her I
doubt«
»And they say shed took as much physic as ud fill a waggon« observed Mr
Pullet
»Ah« sighed Mrs Pullet »shed another complaint ever so many years before
she had the dropsy and the doctors couldnt make out what it was And she said
to me when I went to see her last Christmas she said Mrs Pullet if ever you
have the dropsy youll think o me She did say so« added Mrs Pullet
beginning to cry bitterly again »those were her very words And shes to he
buried o Saturday and Pullets bid to the funeral«
»Sophy« said Mrs Glegg unable any longer to contain her spirit of
rational remonstrance »Sophy I wonder at you fretting and injuring your
health about people as dont belong to you Your poor father never did so nor
your aunt Frances neither nor any o the family as I ever heared of You
couldnt fret no more than this if wed heared as our cousin Abbott had died
sudden without making his will«
Mrs Pullet was silent having to finish her crying and rather flattered
than indignant at being upbraided for crying too much It was not everybody who
could afford to cry so much about their neighbours who had left them nothing
but Mrs Pullet had married a gentleman farmer and had leisure and money to
carry her crying and everything else to the highest pitch of respectability
»Mrs Sutton didnt die without making her will though« said Mr Pullet
with a confused sense that he was saying something to sanction his wifes tears
»ours is a rich parish but they say theres nobody else to leave as many
thousands behind em as Mrs Sutton And shes left no leggicies to speak on
left it all in a lump to her husbands nevvy«
»There wasnt much good i being so rich then« said Mrs Glegg »if shed
got none but husbands kin to leave it to Its poor work when thats all youve
got to pinch yourself for not as Im one o those as ud like to die without
leaving more money out at interest than other folks had reckoned But its a
poor tale when it must go out o your own family«
»Im sure sister« said Mrs Pullet who had recovered sufficiently to take
off her veil and fold it carefully »its a nice sort o man as Mrs Sutton has
left her money to for hes troubled with the asthmy and goes to bed every
night at eight oclock He told me about it himself as free as could be one
Sunday when he came to our church He wears a hareskin on his chest and has a
trembling in his talk quite a gentleman sort o man I told him there wasnt
many months in the year as I wasnt under the doctors hands And he said Mrs
Pullet I can feel for you That was what he said the very words Ah« sighed
Mrs Pullet shaking her head at the idea that there were but few who could
enter fully into her experiences in pink mixture and white mixture strong stuff
in small bottles and weak stuff in large bottles damp boluses at a shilling
and draughts at eighteenpence »Sister I may as well go and take my bonnet off
now Did you see as the capbox was put out« she added turning to her husband
Mr Pullet by an unaccountable lapse of memory had forgotten it and
hastened out with a stricken conscience to remedy the omission
»Theyll bring it upstairs sister« said Mrs Tulliver wishing to go at
once lest Mrs Glegg should begin to explain her feelings about Sophys being
the first Dodson who ever ruined her constitution with doctors stuff
Mrs Tulliver was fond of going upstairs with her sister Pullet and
looking thoroughly at her cap before she put it on her head and discussing
millinery in general This was part of Bessys weakness that stirred Mrs
Gleggs sisterly compassion Bessy went far too well drest considering and she
was too proud to dress her child in the good clothing her sister Glegg gave her
from the primeval strata of her wardrobe it was a sin and a shame to buy
anything to dress that child if it wasnt a pair of shoes In this particular
however Mrs Glegg did her sister Bessy some injustice for Mrs Tulliver had
really made great efforts to induce Maggie to wear a leghorn bonnet and a dyed
silk frock made out of her aunt Gleggs but the results had been such that Mrs
Tulliver was obliged to bury them in her maternal bosom for Maggie declaring
that the frock smelt of nasty dye had taken an opportunity of basting it
together with the roastbeef the first Sunday she wore it and finding this
scheme answer she had subsequently pumped on the bonnet with its green ribbons
so as to give it a general resemblance to a sage cheese garnished with withered
lettuces I must urge in excuse for Maggie that Tom had laughed at her in the
bonnet and said she looked like an old Judy Aunt Pullet too made presents of
clothes but these were always pretty enough to please Maggie as well as her
mother Of all her sisters Mrs Tulliver certainly preferred her sister Pullet
not without a return of preference but Mrs Pullet was sorry Bessy had those
naughty awkward children she would do the best she could by them but it was a
pity they werent as good and as pretty as sister Deanes child Maggie and Tom
on their part thought their aunt Pullet tolerable chiefly because she was not
their aunt Glegg Tom always declined to go more than once during his holidays
to see either of them both his uncles tipped him that once of course but at
his aunt Pullets there was a great many toads to pelt in the cellararea so
that he preferred the visit to her Maggie shuddered at the toads and dreamed
of them horribly but she liked her uncle Pullets musical snuffbox Still it
was agreed by the sisters in Mrs Tullivers absence that the Tulliver blood
did not mix well with the Dodson blood that in fact poor Bessys children
were Tullivers and that Tom notwithstanding he had the Dodson complexion was
likely to be as »contrairy« as his father As for Maggie she was the picture of
her aunt Moss Mr Tullivers sister a largeboned woman who had married as
poorly as could be had no china and had a husband who had much ado to pay his
rent But when Mrs Pullet was alone with Mrs Tulliver upstairs the remarks
were naturally to the disadvantage of Mrs Glegg and they agreed in
confidence that there was no knowing what sort of fright sister Jane would come
out next But their têteàtête was curtailed by the appearance of Mrs Deane
with little Lucy and Mrs Tulliver had to look on with a silent pang while
Lucys blond curls were adjusted It was quite unaccountable that Mrs Deane
the thinnest and sallowest of all the Miss Dodsons should have had this child
who might have been taken for Mrs Tullivers any day And Maggie always looked
twice as dark as usual when she was by the side of Lucy
She did today when she and Tom came in from the garden with their father
and their uncle Glegg Maggie had thrown her bonnet off very carelessly and
coming in with her hair rough as well as out of curl rushed at once to Lucy
who was standing by her mothers knee Certainly the contrast between the
cousins was conspicuous and to superficial eyes was very much to the
disadvantage of Maggie though a connoisseur might have seen »points« in her
which had a higher promise for maturity than Lucys natty completeness It was
like the contrast between a rough dark overgrown puppy and a white kitten
Lucy put up the neatest little rosebud mouth to be kissed everything about her
was neat her little round neck with the row of coral beads her little
straight nose not at all snubby her little clear eyebrows rather darker than
her curls to match her hazel eyes which looked up with shy pleasure at Maggie
taller by the head though scarcely a year older Maggie always looked at Lucy
with delight She was fond of fancying a world where the people never got any
larger than children of their own age and she made the queen of it just like
Lucy with a little crown on her head and a little sceptre in her hand
only the queen was Maggie herself in Lucys form
»O Lucy« she burst out after kissing her »youll stay with Tom and me
wont you O kiss her Tom«
Tom too had come up to Lucy but he was not going to kiss her no he
came up to her with Maggie because it seemed easier on the whole than saying
»How do you do« to all those aunts and uncles he stood looking at nothing in
particular with the blushing awkward air and semismile which are common to
shy boys when in company very much as if they had come into the world by
mistake and found it in a degree of undress that was quite embarrassing
»Heyday« said aunt Glegg with loud emphasis »Do little boys and gells
come into a room without taking notice o their uncles and aunts That wasnt
the way when I was a little gell«
»Go and speak to your aunts and uncles my dears« said Mrs Tulliver
looking anxious and melancholy She wanted to whisper to Maggie a command to go
and have her hair brushed
»Well and how do you do And I hope youre good children are you« said
aunt Glegg in the same loud emphatic way as she took their hands hurting them
with her large rings and kissing their cheeks much against their desire »Look
up Tom look up Boys as go to boardingschools should hold their heads up
Look at me now« Tom declined that pleasure apparently for he tried to draw his
hand away »Put your hair behind your ears Maggie and keep your frock on your
shoulder«
Aunt Glegg always spoke to them in this loud emphatic way as if she
considered them deaf or perhaps rather idiotic it was a means she thought of
making them feel that they were accountable creatures and might be a salutary
check on naughty tendencies Bessys children were so spoiled theyd need have
somebody to make them feel their duty
»Well my dears« said aunt Pullet in a compassionate voice »you grow
wonderful fast I doubt theyll outgrow their strength« she added looking over
their heads with a melancholy expression at their mother »I think the gell has
too much hair Id have it thinned and cut shorter sister if I was you it
isnt good for her health Its that as makes her skin so brown I shouldnt
wonder Dont you think so sister Deane«
»I cant say Im sure sister« said Mrs Deane shutting her lips close
again and looking at Maggie with a critical eye
»No no« said Mr Tulliver »the childs healthy enough theres nothing
ails her Theres red wheat as well as white for that matter and some like the
dark grain best But it ud be as well if Bessy ud have the childs hair cut
so as it ud lie smooth«
A dreadful resolve was gathering in Maggies breast but it was arrested by
the desire to know from her aunt Deane whether she would leave Lucy behind aunt
Deane would hardly ever let Lucy come to see them After various reasons for
refusal Mrs Deane appealed to Lucy herself
»You wouldnt like to stay behind without mother should you Lucy«
»Yes please mother« said Lucy timidly blushing very pink all over her
little neck
»Well done Lucy Let her stay Mrs Deane let her stay« said Mr Deane a
large but alertlooking man with a type of physique to be seen in all ranks of
English society bald crown red whiskers full forehead and general solidity
without heaviness You may see noblemen like Mr Deane and you may see grocers
or daylabourers like him but the keenness of his brown eyes was less common
than his contour He held a silver snuffbox very tightly in his hand and now
and then exchanged a pinch with Mr Tulliver whose box was only silvermounted
so that it was naturally a joke between them that Mr Tulliver wanted to
exchange snuffboxes also Mr Deanes box had been given him by the superior
partners in the firm to which he belonged at the same time that they gave him a
share in the business in acknowledgment of his valuable services as manager No
man was thought more highly of in St Oggs than Mr Deane and some persons were
even of opinion that Miss Susan Dodson who was once held to have made the worst
match of all the Dodson sisters might one day ride in a better carriage and
live in a better house even than her sister Pullet There was no knowing where
a man would stop who had got his foot into a great millowning shipowning
business like that of Guest amp Co with a banking concern attached And Mrs
Deane as her intimate female friends observed was proud and »having« enough
she wouldnt let her husband stand still in the world for want of spurring
»Maggie« said Mrs Tulliver beckoning Maggie to her and whispering in her
ear as soon as this point of Lucys staying was settled »go and get your hair
brushed do for shame I told you not to come in without going to Martha
first you know I did«
»Tom come out with me« whispered Maggie pulling his sleeve as she passed
him and Tom followed willingly enough
»Come upstairs with me Tom« she whispered when they were outside the
door »Theres something I want to do before dinner«
»Theres no time to play at anything before dinner« said Tom whose
imagination was impatient of any intermediate prospect
»O yes there is time for this do come Tom«
Tom followed Maggie upstairs into her mothers room and saw her go at once
to a drawer from which she took out a large pair of scissors
»What are they for Maggie« said Tom feeling his curiosity awakened
Maggie answered by seizing her front locks and cutting them straight across
the middle of her forehead
»O my buttons Maggie youll catch it« exclaimed Tom »youd better not
cut any more off«
Snip went the great scissors again while Tom was speaking and he couldnt
help feeling it was rather good fun Maggie would look so queer
»Here Tom cut it behind for me« said Maggie excited by her own daring
and anxious to finish the deed
»Youll catch it you know« said Tom nodding his head in an admonitory
manner and hesitating a little as he took the scissors
»Never mind make haste« said Maggie giving a little stamp with her foot
Her cheeks were quite flushed
The black locks were so thick nothing could be more tempting to a lad who
had already tasted the forbidden pleasure of cutting the ponys mane I speak to
those who know the satisfaction of making a pair of shears meet through a duly
resisting mass of hair One delicious grinding snip and then another and
another and the hinderlocks fell heavily on the floor and Maggie stood
cropped in a jagged uneven manner but with a sense of clearness and freedom
as if she had emerged from a wood into the open plain
»O Maggie« said Tom jumping round her and slapping his knees as he
laughed »O my buttons what a queer thing you look Look at yourself in the
glass you look like the idiot we throw our nutshells to at school«
Maggie felt an unexpected pang She had thought beforehand chiefly of her
own deliverance from her teasing hair and teasing remarks about it and
something also of the triumph she should have over her mother and her aunts by
this very decided course of action she didnt want her hair to look pretty
that was out of the question she only wanted people to think her a clever
little girl and not to find fault with her But now when Tom began to laugh at
her and say she was like the idiot the affair had quite a new aspect She
looked in the glass and still Tom laughed and clapped his hands and Maggies
flushed cheeks began to pale and her lips to tremble a little
»O Maggie youll have to go down to dinner directly« said Tom »O my«
»Dont laugh at me Tom« said Maggie in a passionate tone with an
outburst of angry tears stamping and giving him a push
»Now then spitfire« said Tom »What did you cut it off for then I shall
go down I can smell the dinner going in«
He hurried downstairs and left poor Maggie to that bitter sense of the
irrevocable which was almost an everyday experience of her small soul She could
see clearly enough now the thing was done that it was very foolish and that
she should have to hear and think more about her hair than ever for Maggie
rushed to her deeds with passionate impulse and then saw not only their
consequences but what would have happened if they had not been done with all
the detail and exaggerated circumstance of an active imagination Tom never did
the same sort of foolish things as Maggie having a wonderful instinctive
discernment of what would turn to his advantage or disadvantage and so it
happened that though he was much more wilful and inflexible than Maggie his
mother hardly ever called him naughty But if Tom did make a mistake of that
sort he espoused it and stood by it he »didnt mind« If he broke the lash of
his fathers gigwhip by lashing the gate he couldnt help it the whip
shouldnt have got caught in the hinge If Tom Tulliver whipped a gate he was
convinced not that the whipping of gates by all boys was a justifiable act but
that he Tom Tulliver was justifiable in whipping that particular gate and he
wasnt going to be sorry But Maggie as she stood crying before the glass felt
it impossible that she should go down to dinner and endure the severe eyes and
severe words of her aunts while Tom and Lucy and Martha who waited at table
and perhaps her father and her uncles would laugh at her for if Tom had
laughed at her of course every one else would and if she had only let her hair
alone she could have sat with Tom and Lucy and had the apricot pudding and the
custard What could she do but sob She sat as helpless and despairing among her
black locks as Ajax among the slaughtered sheep Very trivial perhaps this
anguish seems to weatherworn mortals who have to think of Christmas bills dead
loves and broken friendships but it was not less bitter to Maggie perhaps it
was even more bitter than what we are fond of calling antithetically the real
troubles of mature life »Ah my child you will have real troubles to fret
about byandby« is the consolation we have almost all of us had administered
to us in our childhood and have repeated to other children since we have been
grown up We have all of us sobbed so piteously standing with tiny bare legs
above our little socks when we lost sight of our mother or nurse in some
strange place but we can no longer recall the poignancy of that moment and weep
over it as we do over the remembered sufferings of five or ten years ago Every
one of those keen moments has left its trace and lives in us still but such
traces have blent themselves irrecoverably with the firmer texture of our youth
and manhood and so it comes that we can look on at the troubles of our children
with a smiling disbelief in the reality of their pain Is there any one who can
recover the experience of his childhood not merely with a memory of what he did
and what happened to him of what he liked and disliked when he was in frock and
trousers but with an intimate penetration a revived consciousness of what he
felt then when it was so long from one Midsummer to another what he felt when
his schoolfellows shut him out of their game because he would pitch the ball
wrong out of mere wilfulness or on a rainy day in the holidays when he didnt
know how to amuse himself and fell from idleness into mischief from mischief
into defiance and from defiance into sulkiness or when his mother absolutely
refused to let him have a tailed coat that »half« although every other boy of
his age had gone into tails already Surely if we could recall that early
bitterness and the dim guesses the strangely perspectiveless conception of
life that gave the bitterness its intensity we should not poohpooh the griefs
of our children
»Miss Maggie youre to come down this minute« said Kezia entering the
room hurriedly »Lawks what have you been adoing I niver see such a fright«
»Dont Kezia« said Maggie angrily »Go away«
»But I tell you youre to come down Miss this minute your mother says
so« said Kezia going up to Maggie and taking her by the hand to raise her from
the floor
»Get away Kezia I dont want any dinner« said Maggie resisting Kezias
arm »I shant come«
»O well I cant stay Ive got to wait at dinner« said Kezia going out
again
»Maggie you little silly« said Tom peeping into the room ten minutes
after »why dont you come and have your dinner Theres lots o goodies and
mother says youre to come What are you crying for you little spooney«
O it was dreadful Tom was so hard and unconcerned if he had been crying
on the floor Maggie would have cried too And there was the dinner so nice
and she was so hungry It was very bitter
But Tom was not altogether hard He was not inclined to cry and did not
feel that Maggies grief spoiled his prospect of the sweets but he went and put
his head near her and said in a lower comforting tone
»Wont you come then Magsie Shall I bring you a bit o pudding when Ive
had mine and a custard and things«
»Yeees« said Maggie beginning to feel life a little more tolerable
»Very well« said Tom going away But he turned again at the door and said
»But youd better come you know Theres the dessert nuts you know and
cowslip wine«
Maggies tears had ceased and she looked reflective as Tom left her His
good nature had taken off the keenest edge of her suffering and nuts with
cowslip wine began to assert their legitimate influence
Slowly she rose from amongst her scattered locks and slowly she made her
way downstairs Then she stood leaning with one shoulder against the frame of
the diningparlour door peeping in when it was ajar She saw Tom and Lucy with
an empty chair between them and there were the custards on a sidetable it
was too much She slipped in and went towards the empty chair But she had no
sooner sat down than she repented and wished herself back again
Mrs Tulliver gave a little scream as she saw her and felt such a »turn«
that she dropt the large gravyspoon into the dish with the most serious results
to the tablecloth For Kezia had not betrayed the reason of Maggies refusal to
come down not liking to give her mistress a shock in the moment of carving and
Mrs Tulliver thought there was nothing worse in question than a fit of
perverseness which was inflicting its own punishment by depriving Maggie of
half her dinner
Mrs Tullivers scream made all eyes turn towards the same point as her own
and Maggies cheeks and ears began to burn while uncle Glegg a kindlooking
whitehaired old gentleman said
»Heyday what little gells this why I dont know her Is it some little
gell youve picked up in the road Kezia«
»Why shes gone and cut her hair herself« said Mr Tulliver in an
undertone to Mr Deane laughing with much enjoyment »Did you ever know such a
little hussy as it is«
»Why little miss youve made yourself look very funny« said uncle Pullet
and perhaps he never in his life made an observation which was felt to be so
lacerating
»Fie for shame« said aunt Glegg in her loudest severest tone of reproof
»Little gells as cut their own hair should be whipped and fed on breadandwater
not come and sit down with their aunts and uncles«
»Ay ay« said uncle Glegg meaning to give a playful turn to this
denunciation »she must be sent to jail I think and theyll cut the rest of
her hair off there and make it all even«
»Shes more like a gypsy nor ever« said aunt Pullet in a pitying tone
»its very bad luck sister as the gell should be so brown the boys fair
enough I doubt itll stand in her way i life to be so brown«
»Shes a naughty child as ll break her mothers heart« said Mrs
Tulliver with the tears in her eyes
Maggie seemed to be listening to a chorus of reproach and derision Her
first flush came from anger which gave her a transient power of defiance and
Tom thought she was braving it out supported by the recent appearance of the
pudding and custard Under this impression he whispered »O my Maggie I told
you youd catch it« He meant to be friendly but Maggie felt convinced that Tom
was rejoicing in her ignominy Her feeble power of defiance left her in an
instant her heart swelled and getting up from her chair she ran to her
father hid her face on his shoulder and burst out into loud sobbing
»Come come my wench« said her father soothingly putting his arm round
her »never mind you was i the right to cut it off if it plagued you give
over crying father ll take your part«
Delicious words of tenderness Maggie never forgot any of these moments when
her father »took her part« she kept them in her heart and thought of them long
years after when every one else said that her father had done very ill by his
children
»How your husband does spoil that child Bessy« said Mrs Glegg in a loud
»aside« to Mrs Tulliver »Itll be the ruin of her if you dont take care My
father niver brought his children up so else we should ha been a different
sort o family to what we are«
Mrs Tullivers domestic sorrows seemed at this moment to have reached the
point at which insensibility begins She took no notice of her sisters remark
but threw back her capstrings and dispensed the pudding in mute resignation
With the dessert there came entire deliverance for Maggie for the children
were told they might have their nuts and wine in the summerhouse since the day
was so mild and they scampered out among the budding bushes of the garden with
the alacrity of small animals getting from under a burning glass
Mrs Tulliver had her special reason for this permission now the dinner was
despatched and every ones mind disengaged it was the right moment to
communicate Mr Tullivers intention concerning Tom and it would be as well for
Tom himself to be absent The children were used to hear themselves talked of as
freely as if they were birds and could understand nothing however they might
stretch their necks and listen but on this occasion Mrs Tulliver manifested an
unusual discretion because she had recently had evidence that the going to
school to a clergyman was a sore point with Tom who looked at it as very much
on a par with going to school to a constable Mrs Tulliver had a sighing sense
that her husband would do as he liked whatever sister Glegg said or sister
Pullet either but at least they would not be able to say if the thing turned
out ill that Bessy had fallen in with her husbands folly without letting her
own friends know a word about it
»Mr Tulliver« she said interrupting her husband in his talk with Mr
Deane »its time now to tell the childrens aunts and uncles what youre
thinking of doing with Tom isnt it«
»Very well« said Mr Tulliver rather sharply »Ive no objections to tell
anybody what I mean to do with him Ive settled« he added looking towards Mr
Glegg and Mr Deane »Ive settled to send him to a Mr Stelling a parson
down at Kings Lorton there an uncommon clever fellow I understand asll
put him up to most things«
There was a rustling demonstration of surprise in the company such as you
may have observed in a country congregation when they hear an allusion to their
weekday affairs from the pulpit It was equally astonishing to the aunts and
uncles to find a parson introduced into Mr Tullivers family arrangements As
for uncle Pullet he could hardly have been more thoroughly obfuscated if Mr
Tulliver had said that he was going to send Tom to the Lord Chancellor for
uncle Pullet belonged to that extinct class of British yeomen who dressed in
good broadcloth paid high rates and taxes went to church and ate a
particularly good dinner on Sunday without dreaming that the British
constitution in Church and State had a traceable origin any more than the solar
system and the fixed stars It is melancholy but true that Mr Pullet had the
most confused idea of a bishop as a sort of a baronet who might or might not be
a clergyman and as the rector of his own parish was a man of high family and
fortune the idea that a clergyman could be a schoolmaster was too remote from
Mr Pullets experience to be readily conceivable I know it is difficult for
people in these instructed times to believe in uncle Pullets ignorance but let
them reflect on the remarkable results of a great natural faculty under
favouring circumstances And uncle Pullet had a great natural faculty for
ignorance He was the first to give utterance to his astonishment
»Why what can you be going to send him to a parson for« he said with an
amazed twinkling in his eyes looking at Mr Glegg and Mr Deane to see if they
showed any signs of comprehension
»Why because the parsons are the best schoolmasters by what I can make
out« said poor Mr Tulliver who in the maze of this puzzling world laid hold
of any clue with great readiness and tenacity »Jacobs at th academys no
parson and hes done very bad by the boy and I made up my mind if I sent him
to school again it should be to somebody different to Jacobs And this Mr
Stelling by what I can make out is the sort o man I want And I mean my boy
to go to him at Midsummer« he concluded in a tone of decision tapping his
snuffbox and taking a pinch
»Youll have to pay a swinging halfyearly bill then eh Tulliver The
clergymen have highish notions in general« said Mr Deane taking snuff
vigorously as he always did when wishing to maintain a neutral position
»What do you think the parson ll teach him to know a good sample o wheat
when he sees it neighbour Tulliver« said Mr Glegg who was fond of his jest
and having retired from business felt that it was not only allowable but
becoming in him to take a playful view of things
»Why you see Ive got a plan i my head about Tom« said Mr Tulliver
pausing after that statement and lifting up his glass
»Well if I may be allowed to speak and its seldom as I am« said Mrs
Glegg with a tone of bitter meaning »I should like to know what good is to
come to the boy by bringin him up above his fortin«
»Why« said Mr Tulliver not looking at Mrs Glegg but at the male part of
his audience »you see Ive made up my mind not to bring Tom up to my own
business Ive had my thoughts about it all along and I made up my mind by what
I saw with Garnett and his son I mean to put him to some business as he can go
into without capital and I want to give him an eddication as hell be even wi
the lawyers and folks and put me up to a notion now an then«
Mrs Glegg emitted a long sort of guttural sound with closed lips that
smiled in mingled pity and scorn
»It ud be a fine deal better for some people« she said after that
introductory note »if theyd let the lawyers alone«
»Is he at the head of a grammar school then this clergyman such as that
at Market Bewley« said Mr Deane
»No nothing o that« said Mr Tulliver »He wont take more than two or
three pupils and so hell have the more time to attend to em you know«
»Ah and get his eddication done the sooner they cant learn much at a time
when theres so many of em« said uncle Pullet feeling that he was getting
quite an insight into this difficult matter
»But hell want the more pay I doubt« said Mr Glegg
»Ay ay a cool hundred ayear thats all« said Mr Tulliver with some
pride at his own spirited course »But then you know its an investment Toms
eddication ull be so much capital to him«
»Ay theres something in that« said Mr Glegg »Well well neighbour
Tulliver you may be right you may be right
When land is gone and moneys spent
Then learning is most excellent
I remember seeing those two lines wrote on a window at Buxton But us that have
got no learning had better keep our money eh neighbour Pullet« Mr Glegg
rubbed his knees and looked very pleasant
»Mr Glegg I wonder at you« said his wife »Its very unbecoming in a man
o your age and belongings«
»Whats unbecoming Mrs G« said Mr Glegg winking pleasantly at the
company »My new blue coat as Ive got on«
»I pity your weakness Mr Glegg I say its unbecoming to be making a joke
when you see your own kin going headlongs to ruin«
»If you mean me by that« said Mr Tulliver considerably nettled »you
neednt trouble yourself to fret about me I can manage my own affairs without
troubling other folks«
»Bless me« said Mr Deane judiciously introducing a new idea »why now I
come to think of it somebody said Wakem was going to send his son the
deformed lad to a clergyman didnt they Susan« appealing to his wife
»I can give no account of it Im sure« said Mrs Deane closing her lips
very tightly again Mrs Deane was not a woman to take part in a scene where
missiles were flying
»Well« said Mr Tulliver speaking all the more cheerfully that Mrs Glegg
might see he didnt mind her »if Wakem thinks o sending his son to a
clergyman depend on it I shall make no mistake i sending Tom to one Wakems
as big a scoundrel as Old Harry ever made but he knows the length of every
mans foot hes got to deal with Ay ay tell me whos Wakems butcher and
Ill tell you where to get your meat«
»But lawyer Wakems sons got a humpback« said Mrs Pullet who felt as if
the whole business had a funereal aspect »its more natral to send him to a
clergyman«
»Yes« said Mr Glegg interpreting Mrs Pullets observation with erroneous
plausibility »you must consider that neighbour Tulliver Wakems son isnt
likely to follow any business Wakem ull make a gentleman of him poor fellow«
»Mr Glegg« said Mrs G in a tone which implied that her indignation
would fizz and ooze a little though she was determined to keep it corked up
»youd far better hold your tongue Mr Tulliver doesnt want to know your
opinion nor mine neither Theres folks in the world as know better than
everybody else«
»Why I should think thats you if were to trust your own tale« said Mr
Tulliver beginning to boil up again
»O I say nothing« said Mrs Glegg sarcastically »My advice has never
been asked and I dont give it«
»Itll be the first time then« said Mr Tulliver »Its the only thing
youre overready at giving«
»Ive been overready at lending then if I havent been overready at
giving« said Mrs Glegg »Theres folk Ive lent money to as perhaps I shall
repent o lending money to kin«
»Come come come« said Mr Glegg soothingly But Mr Tulliver was not to
be hindered of his retort
»Youve got a bond for it I reckon« he said »and youve had your five per
cent kin or no kin«
»Sister« said Mrs Tulliver pleadingly »drink your wine and let me give
you some almonds and raisins«
»Bessy Im sorry for you« said Mrs Glegg very much with the feeling of a
cur that seizes the opportunity of diverting his bark towards the man who
carries no stick »Its poor work talking o almonds and raisins«
»Lors sister Glegg dont be so quarrelsome« said Mrs Pullet beginning
to cry a little »You may be struck with a fit getting so red in the face after
dinner and we are but just out o mourning all of us and all wi gowns
craped alike and just put by its very bad among sisters«
»I should think it is bad« said Mrs Glegg »Things are come to a fine pass
when one sister invites the other to her house o purpose to quarrel with her
and abuse her«
»Softly softly Jane be reasonable be reasonable« said Mr Glegg
But while he was speaking Mr Tulliver who had by no means said enough to
satisfy his anger burst out again
»Who wants to quarrel with you« he said »Its you as cant let people
alone but must be gnawing at em for ever I should never want to quarrel with
any woman if she kept her place«
»My place indeed« said Mrs Glegg getting rather more shrill »Theres
your betters Mr Tulliver as are dead and in their grave treated me with a
different sort o respect to what you do though Ive got a husband asll sit
by and see me abused by them as ud never ha had the chance if there hadnt
been them in our family as married worse than they might ha done«
»If you talk o that« said Mr Tulliver »my familys as good as yours
and better for it hasnt got a damned illtempered woman in it«
»Well« said Mrs Glegg rising from her chair »I dont know whether you
think its a fine thing to sit by and hear me swore at Mr Glegg but Im not
going to stay a minute longer in this house You can stay behind and come home
with the gig and Ill walk home«
»Dear heart dear heart« said Mr Glegg in a melancholy tone as he
followed his wife out of the room
»Mr Tulliver how could you talk so« said Mrs Tulliver with the tears in
her eyes
»Let her go« said Mr Tulliver too hot to be damped by any amount of
tears »Let her go and the sooner the better she wont be trying to domineer
over me again in a hurry«
»Sister Pullet« said Mrs Tulliver helplessly »do you think it ud be any
use for you to go after her and try to pacify her«
»Better not better not« said Mr Deane »Youll make it up another day«
»Then sisters shall we go and look at the children« said Mrs Tulliver
drying her eyes
No proposition could have been more seasonable Mr Tulliver felt very much
as if the air had been cleared of obtrusive flies now the women were out of the
room There were few things he liked better than a chat with Mr Deane whose
close application to business allowed the pleasure very rarely Mr Deane he
considered was the »knowingest« man of his acquaintance and he had besides a
ready causticity of tongue that made an agreeable supplement to Mr Tullivers
own tendency that way which had remained in rather an inarticulate condition
And now the women were gone they could carry on their serious talk without
frivolous interruption They could exchange their views concerning the Duke of
Wellington whose conduct in the Catholic Question had thrown such an entirely
new light on his character and speak slightingly of his conduct at the battle
of Waterloo which he would never have won if there hadnt been a great many
Englishmen at his back not to speak of Blucher and the Prussians who as Mr
Tulliver had heard from a person of particular knowledge in that matter had
come up in the very nick of time though here there was a slight dissidence Mr
Deane remarking that he was not disposed to give much credit to the Prussians
the build of their vessels together with the unsatisfactory character of
transactions in Dantzic beer inclining him to form rather a low view of
Prussian pluck generally Rather beaten on this ground Mr Tulliver proceeded
to express his fears that the country could never again be what it used to be
but Mr Deane attached to a firm of which the returns were on the increase
naturally took a more lively view of the present and had some details to give
concerning the state of the imports especially in hides and spelter which
soothed Mr Tullivers imagination by throwing into more distant perspective the
period when the country would become utterly the prey of Papists and Radicals
and there would be no more chance for honest men
Uncle Pullet sat by and listened with twinkling eyes to these high matters
He didnt understand politics himself thought they were a natural gift but
by what he could make out this Duke of Wellington was no better than he should
be
Chapter VIII
Mr Tulliver Shows His Weaker Side
»Suppose sister Glegg should call her money in it ud be very awkward for you
to have to raise five hundred pounds now« said Mrs Tulliver to her husband
that evening as she took a plaintive review of the day
Mrs Tulliver had lived thirteen years with her husband yet she retained in
all the freshness of her early married life a facility of saying things which
drove him in the opposite direction to the one she desired Some minds are
wonderful for keeping their bloom in this way as a patriarchal goldfish
apparently retains to the last its youthful illusion that it can swim in a
straight line beyond the encircling glass Mrs Tulliver was an amiable fish of
this kind and after running her head against the same resisting medium for
thirteen years would go at it again today with undulled alacrity
This observation of hers tended directly to convince Mr Tulliver that it
would not be at all awkward for him to raise five hundred pounds and when Mrs
Tulliver became rather pressing to know how he would raise it without mortgaging
the mill and the house which he had said he never would mortgage since nowadays
people were none so ready to lend money without security Mr Tulliver getting
warm declared that Mrs Glegg might do as she liked about calling in her money
he should pay it in whether or not He was not going to be beholden to his
wifes sisters When a man had married into a family where there was a whole
litter of women he might have plenty to put up with if he chose But Mr
Tulliver did not choose
Mrs Tulliver cried a little in a trickling quiet way as she put on her
nightcap but presently sank into a comfortable sleep lulled by the thought
that she would talk everything over with her sister Pullet tomorrow when she
was to take the children to Garum Firs to tea Not that she looked forward to
any distinct issue from that talk but it seemed impossible that past events
should be so obstinate as to remain unmodified when they were complained
against
Her husband lay awake rather longer for he too was thinking of a visit he
would pay on the morrow and his ideas on the subject were not of so vague and
soothing a kind as those of his amiable partner
Mr Tulliver when under the influence of a strong feeling had a
promptitude in action that may seem inconsistent with that painful sense of the
complicated puzzling nature of human affairs under which his more dispassionate
deliberations were conducted but it is really not improbable that there was a
direct relation between these apparently contradictory phenomena since I have
observed that for getting a strong impression that a skein is tangled there is
nothing like snatching hastily at a single thread It was owing to this
promptitude that Mr Tulliver was on horseback soon after dinner the next day
he was not dyspeptic on his way to Basset to see his sister Moss and her
husband For having made up his mind irrevocably that he would pay Mrs Glegg
her loan of five hundred pounds it naturally occurred to him that he had a
promissory note for three hundred pounds lent to his brotherinlaw Moss and if
the said brotherinlaw could manage to pay in the money within a given time it
would go far to lessen the fallacious air of inconvenience which Mr Tullivers
spirited step might have worn in the eyes of weak people who require to know
precisely how a thing is to be done before they are strongly confident that it
will be easy
For Mr Tulliver was in a position neither new nor striking but like other
everyday things sure to have a cumulative effect that will be felt in the long
run he was held to be a much more substantial man than he really was And as we
are all apt to believe what the world believes about us it was his habit to
think of failure and ruin with the same sort of remote pity with which a spare
longnecked man hears that his plethoric shortnecked neighbour is stricken with
apoplexy He had been always used to hear pleasant jokes about his advantages as
a man who worked his own mill and owned a pretty bit of land and these jokes
naturally kept up his sense that he was a man of considerable substance They
gave a pleasant flavour to his glass on a marketday and if it had not been for
the recurrence of halfyearly payments Mr Tulliver would really have forgotten
that there was a mortgage of two thousand pounds on his very desirable freehold
That was not altogether his own fault since one of the thousand pounds was his
sisters fortune which he had to pay on her marriage and a man who has
neighbours that will go to law with him is not likely to pay off his mortgages
especially if he enjoys the good opinion of acquaintances who want to borrow a
hundred pounds on security too lofty to be represented by parchment Our friend
Mr Tulliver had a goodnatured fibre in him and did not like to give harsh
refusals even to a sister who had not only come into the world in that
superfluous way characteristic of sisters creating a necessity for mortgages
but had quite thrown herself away in marriage and had crowned her mistakes by
having an eighth baby On this point Mr Tulliver was conscious of being a
little weak but he apologised to himself by saying that poor Gritty had been a
goodlooking wench before she married Moss he would sometimes say this even
with a slight tremulousness in his voice But this morning he was in a mood more
becoming a man of business and in the course of his ride along the Basset
lanes with their deep ruts lying so far away from a markettown that the
labour of drawing produce and manure was enough to take away the best part of
the profits on such poor land as that parish was made of he got up a due
amount of irritation against Moss as a man without capital who if murrain and
blight were abroad was sure to have his share of them and who the more you
tried to help him out of the mud would sink the further in It would do him
good rather than harm now if he were obliged to raise this three hundred
pounds it would make him look about him better and not act so foolishly about
his wool this year as he did the last in fact Mr Tulliver had been too easy
with his brotherinlaw and because he had let the interest run on for two
years Moss was likely enough to think that he should never be troubled about
the principal But Mr Tulliver was determined not to encourage such shuffling
people any longer and a ride along the Basset lanes was not likely to enervate
a mans resolution by softening his temper The deeptrodden hoofmarks made in
the muddiest days of winter gave him a shake now and then which suggested a
rash but stimulating snarl at the father of lawyers who whether by means of
his hoof or otherwise had doubtless something to do with this state of the
roads and the abundance of foul land and neglected fences that met his eye
though they made no part of his brother Mosss farm strongly contributed to his
dissatisfaction with that unlucky agriculturist If this wasnt Mosss fallow
it might have been Basset was all alike it was a beggarly parish in Mr
Tullivers opinion and his opinion was certainly not groundless Basset had a
poor soil poor roads a poor nonresident landlord a poor nonresident vicar
and rather less than half a curate also poor If any one strongly impressed
with the power of the human mind to triumph over circumstances will contend
that the parishioners of Basset might nevertheless have been a very superior
class of people I have nothing to urge against that abstract proposition I
only know that in point of fact the Basset mind was in strict keeping with its
circumstances The muddy lanes green or clayey that seemed to the unaccustomed
eye to lead nowhere but into each other did really lead with patience to a
distant highroad but there were many feet in Basset which they led more
frequently to a centre of dissipation spoken of formally as the »Markis o
Granby« but among intimates as »Dickisons« A large low room with a sanded
floor a cold scent of tobacco modified by undetected beerdregs Mr Dickison
leaning against the doorpost with a melancholy pimpled face looking as
irrelevant to the daylight as a last nights guttered candle all this may not
seem a very seductive form of temptation but the majority of men in Basset
found it fatally alluring when encountered on their road towards four oclock on
a wintry afternoon and if any wife in Basset wished to indicate that her
husband was not a pleasureseeking man she could hardly do it more emphatically
than by saying that he didnt spend a shilling at Dickisons from one
Whitsuntide to another Mrs Moss had said so of her husband more than once
when her brother was in a mood to find fault with him as he certainly was
today And nothing could be less pacifying to Mr Tulliver than the behaviour
of the farmyard gate which he no sooner attempted to push open with his
ridingstick than it acted as gates without the upper hinge are known to do to
the peril of shins whether equine or human He was about to get down and lead
his horse through the damp dirt of the hollow farmyard shadowed drearily by the
large halftimbered buildings up to the long line of tumbledown dwellinghouse
standing on a raised causeway but the timely appearance of a cowboy saved him
that frustration of a plan he had determined on namely not to get down from
his horse during this visit If a man means to be hard let him keep in his
saddle and speak from that height above the level of pleading eyes and with
the command of a distant horizon Mrs Moss heard the sound of the horses feet
and when her brother rode up was already outside the kitchen door with a
halfweary smile on her face and a blackeyed baby in her arms Mrs Mosss
face bore a faded resemblance to her brothers babys little fat hand pressed
against her cheek seemed to show more strikingly that the cheek was faded
»Brother Im glad to see you« she said in an affectionate tone »I didnt
look for you today How do you do«
»Oh pretty well Mrs Moss pretty well« answered the brother
with cool deliberation as if it were rather too forward of her to ask that
question She knew at once that her brother was not in a good humour he never
called her Mrs Moss except when he was angry and when they were in company
But she thought it was in the order of nature that people who were poorly off
should be snubbed Mrs Moss did not take her stand on the equality of the human
race she was a patient prolific lovinghearted woman
»Your husband isnt in the house I suppose« added Mr Tulliver after a
grave pause during which four children had run out like chickens whose mother
has been suddenly in eclipse behind the hencoop
»No« said Mrs Moss »but hes only in the potatofield yonders Georgy
run to the Far Close in a minute and tell father your uncles come Youll get
down brother wont yon and take something«
»No no I cant get down I must be going home again directly« said Mr
Tulliver looking at the distance
»And hows Mrs Tulliver and the children« said Mrs Moss humbly not
daring to press her invitation
»Oh pretty well Toms going to a new school at Midsummer a deal of
expense to me Its bad work for me lying out o my money«
»I wish youd be so good as let the children come and see their cousins some
day My little uns want to see their cousin Maggie so as never was And me her
godmother and so fond of her theres nobody ud make a bigger fuss with her
according to what theyve got And I know she likes to come for shes a loving
child and how quick and clever she is to be sure«
If Mrs Moss had been one of the most astute women in the world instead of
being one of the simplest she could have thought of nothing more likely to
propitiate her brother than this praise of Maggie He seldom found any one
volunteering praise of »the little wench« it was usually left entirely to
himself to insist on her merits But Maggie always appeared in the most amiable
light at her aunt Mosss it was her Alsatia where she was out of the reach of
law if she upset anything dirtied her shoes or tore her frock these things
were matters of course at her aunt Mosss In spite of himself Mr Tullivers
eyes got milder and he did not look away from his sister as he said
»Ay shes fonder o you than o the other aunts I think She takes after
our family not a bit of her mothers in her«
»Moss says shes just like what I used to be« said Mrs Moss »though I was
never so quick and fond o the books But I think my Lizzys like her shes
sharp Come here Lizzy my dear and let your uncle see you he hardly knows
you you grow so fast«
Lizzy a blackeyed child of seven looked very shy when her mother drew her
forward for the small Mosses were much in awe of their uncle from Dorlcote
Mill She was inferior enough to Maggie in fire and strength of expression to
make the resemblance between the two entirely flattering to Mr Tullivers
fatherly love
»Ay theyre a bit alike« he said looking kindly at the little figure in
the soiled pinafore »They both take after our mother Youve got enough o
gells Gritty« he added in a tone half compassionate half reproachful
»Four of em bless em« said Mrs Moss with a sigh stroking Lizzys hair
on each side of her forehead »as many as theres boys Theyve got a brother
apiece«
»Ah but they must turn out and fend for themselves« said Mr Tulliver
feeling that his severity was relaxing and trying to brace it by throwing out a
wholesome hint »They mustnt look to hanging on their brothers«
»No but I hope their brothers ull love the poor things and remember they
came o one father and mother the lads ull never be the poorer for that« said
Mrs Moss flashing out with hurried timidity like a halfsmothered fire
Mr Tulliver gave his horse a little stroke on the flank then checked it
and said angrily »Stand still with you« much to the astonishment of that
innocent animal
»And the more there is of em the more they must love one another« Mrs
Moss went on looking at her children with a didactic purpose But she turned
towards her brother again to say »Not but what I hope your boy ull allays be
good to his sister though theres but two of em like you and me brother«
That arrow went straight to Mr Tullivers heart He had not a rapid
imagination but the thought of Maggie was very near to him and he was not long
in seeing his relation to his own sister side by side with Toms relation to
Maggie Would the little wench ever be poorly off and Tom rather hard upon her
»Ay ay Gritty« said the miller with a new softness in his tone »but
Ive allays done what I could for you« he added as if vindicating himself from
a reproach
»Im not denying that brother and Im noways ungrateful« said poor Mrs
Moss too fagged by toil and children to have strength left for any pride »But
heres the father What a while youve been Moss«
»While do you call it« said Mr Moss feeling out of breath and injured
»Ive been running all the way Wont you light Mr Tulliver«
»Well Ill just get down and have a bit o talk with you in the garden«
said Mr Tulliver thinking that he should be more likely to show a due spirit
of resolve if his sister were not present
He got down and passed with Mr Moss into the garden towards an old
yewtree arbour while his sister stood tapping her baby on the back and
looking wistfully after them
Their entrance into the yewtree arbour surprised several fowls that were
recreating themselves by scratching deep holes in the dusty ground and at once
took flight with much pother and cackling Mr Tulliver sat down on the bench
and tapping the ground curiously here and there with his stick as if he
suspected some hollowness opened the conversation by observing with something
like a snarl in his tone
»Why youve got wheat again in that Corner Close I see and never a bit o
dressing on it Youll do no good with it this year«
Mr Moss who when he married Miss Tulliver had been regarded as the buck
of Basset now wore a beard nearly a week old and had the depressed
unexpectant air of a machinehorse He answered in a patientgrumbling tone
»Why poor farmers like me must do as they can they must leave it to them as
have got money to play with to put half as much into the ground as they mean to
get out of it«
»I dont know who should have money to play with if it isnt them as can
borrow money without paying interest« said Mr Tulliver who wished to get into
a slight quarrel it was the most natural and easy introduction to calling in
money
»I know Im behind with the interest« said Mr Moss »but I was so unlucky
wi the wool last year and what with the Missis being laid up so things have
gone awkarder nor usual«
»Ay« snarled Mr Tulliver »theres folks as things ull allays go awkard
with empty sacks ull never stand upright«
»Well I dont know what fault youve got to find wi me Mr Tulliver«
said Mr Moss deprecatingly »I know there isnt a daylabourer works harder«
»Whats the use o that« said Mr Tulliver sharply »when a man marries
ands got no capital to work his farm but his wifes bit o fortin I was
against it from the first but youd neither of you listen to me And I cant
lie out o my money any longer for Ive got to pay five hundred o Mrs
Gleggs and therell be Tom an expense to me I should find myself short even
saying Id got back all as is my own You must look about and see how you can
pay me the three hundred pound«
»Well if thats what you mean« said Mr Moss looking blankly before him
»wed better be sold up and ha done with it I must part wi every head o
stock Ive got to pay you and the landlord too«
Poor relations are undeniably irritating their existence is so entirely
uncalled for on our part and they are almost always very faulty people Mr
Tulliver had succeeded in getting quite as much irritated with Mr Moss as he
had desired and he was able to say angrily rising from his seat
»Well you must do as you can I cant find money for everybody else as well
as myself I must look to my own business and my own family I cant lie out o
my money any longer You must raise it as quick as you can«
Mr Tulliver walked abruptly out of the arbour as he uttered the last
sentence and without looking round at Mr Moss went on to the kitchen door
where the eldest boy was holding his horse and his sister was waiting in a
state of wondering alarm which was not without its alleviations for baby was
making pleasant gurgling sounds and performing a great deal of finger practice
on the faded face Mrs Moss had eight children but could never overcome her
regret that the twins had not lived Mr Moss thought their removal was not
without its consolations »Wont you come in brother« she said looking
anxiously at her husband who was walking slowly up while Mr Tulliver had his
foot already in the stirrup
»No no goodbye« said he turning his horses head and riding away
No man could feel more resolute till he got outside the yardgate and a
little way along the deeprutted lane but before he reached the next turning
which would take him out of sight of the dilapidated farmbuildings he appeared
to be smitten by some sudden thought He checked his horse and made it stand
still in the same spot for two or three minutes during which he turned his head
from side to side in a melancholy way as if he were looking at some painful
object on more sides than one Evidently after his fit of promptitude Mr
Tulliver was relapsing into the sense that this is a puzzling world He turned
his horse and rode slowly back giving vent to the climax of feeling which had
determined this movement by saying aloud as he struck his horse »Poor little
wench shell have nobody but Tom belike when Im gone«
Mr Tullivers return into the yard was descried by several young Mosses
who immediately ran in with the exciting news to their mother so that Mrs Moss
was again on the doorstep when her brother rode up She had been crying but
was rocking baby to sleep in her arms now and made no ostentatious show of
sorrow as her brother looked at her but merely said
»The fathers gone to the field again if you want him brother«
»No Gritty no« said Mr Tulliver in a gentle tone »Dont you fret
thats all Ill make a shift without the money a bit only you must be as
clever and contriving as you can«
Mrs Mosss tears came again at this unexpected kindness and she could say
nothing
»Come come the little wench shall come and see you Ill bring her and
Tom some day before he goes to school You mustnt fret Ill allays be a
good brother to you«
»Thank you for that word brother« said Mrs Moss drying her tears then
turning to Lizzy she said »Run now and fetch the coloured egg for cousin
Maggie« Lizzy ran in and quickly reappeared with a small paper parcel
»Its boiled hard brother and coloured with thrums very pretty it was
done o purpose for Maggie Will you please to carry it in your pocket«
»Ay ay« said Mr Tulliver putting it carefully in his sidepocket
»Goodbye«
And so the respectable miller returned along the Basset lanes rather more
puzzled than before as to ways and means but still with the sense of a danger
escaped It had come across his mind that if he were hard upon his sister it
might somehow tend to make Tom hard upon Maggie at some distant day when her
father was no longer there to take her part for simple people like our friend
Mr Tulliver are apt to clothe unimpeachable feelings in erroneous ideas and
this was his confused way of explaining to himself that his love and anxiety for
»the little wench« had given him a new sensibility towards his sister
Chapter IX
To Garum Firs
While the possible troubles of Maggies future were occupying her fathers mind
she herself was tasting only the bitterness of the present Childhood has no
forebodings but then it is soothed by no memories of outlived sorrow
The fact was the day had begun ill with Maggie The pleasure of having Lucy
to look at and the prospect of the afternoon visit to Garum Firs where she
would hear uncle Pullets musical box had been marred as early as eleven
oclock by the advent of the hairdresser from St Oggs who had spoken in the
severest terms of the condition in which he had found her hair holding up one
jagged lock after another and saying »See here tut tut tut« in a tone of
mingled disgust and pity which to Maggies imagination was equivalent to the
strongest expression of public opinion Mr Rappit the hairdresser with his
wellanointed coronal locks tending wavily upward like the simulated pyramid of
flame on a monumental urn seemed to her at that moment the most formidable of
her contemporaries into whose street at St Oggs she would carefully refrain
from entering through the rest of her life
Moreover the preparation for a visit being always a serious affair in the
Dodson family Martha was enjoined to have Mrs Tullivers room ready an hour
earlier than usual that the layingout of the best clothes might not be
deferred till the last moment as was sometimes the case in families of lax
views where the ribbonstrings were never rolled up where there was little or
no wrapping in silver paper and where the sense that the Sunday clothes could
be got at quite easily produced no shock to the mind Already at twelve
oclock Mrs Tulliver had on her visiting costume with a protective apparatus
of brown holland as if she had been a piece of satin furniture in danger of
flies Maggie was frowning and twisting her shoulders that she might if
possible shrink away from the prickliest of tuckers while her mother was
remonstrating »Dont Maggie my dear dont make yourself so ugly« and Toms
cheeks were looking particularly brilliant as a relief to his best blue suit
which he wore with becoming calmness having after a little wrangling effected
what was always the one point of interest to him in his toilette he had
transferred all the contents of his everyday pockets to those actually in wear
As for Lucy she was just as pretty and neat as she had been yesterday no
accidents ever happened to her clothes and she was never uncomfortable in them
so that she looked with wondering pity at Maggie pouting and writhing under the
exasperating tucker Maggie would certainly have torn it off if she had not
been checked by the remembrance of her recent humiliation about her hair as it
was she confined herself to fretting and twisting and behaving peevishly about
the cardhouses which they were allowed to build till dinner as a suitable
amusement for boys and girls in their best clothes Tom could build perfect
pyramids of houses but Maggies would never bear the laying on of the roof
it was always so with the things that Maggie made and Tom had deduced the
conclusion that no girls could ever make anything But it happened that Lucy
proved wonderfully clever at building she handled the cards so lightly and
moved so gently that Tom condescended to admire her houses as well as his own
the more readily because she had asked him to teach her Maggie too would have
admired Lucys houses and would have given up her own unsuccessful building to
contemplate them without illtemper if her tucker had not made her peevish and
if Tom had not inconsiderately laughed when her houses fell and told her she
was »a stupid«
»Dont laugh at me Tom« she burst out angrily »Im not a stupid I know
a great many things you dont«
»O I daresay Miss Spitfire Id never be such a cross thing as you
making faces like that Lucy doesnt do so I like Lucy better than you I wish
Lucy was my sister«
»Then its very wicked and cruel of you to wish so« said Maggie starting
up hurriedly from her place on the floor and upsetting Toms wonderful pagoda
She really did not mean it but the circumstantial evidence was against her and
Tom turned white with anger but said nothing he would have struck her only he
knew it was cowardly to strike a girl and Tom Tulliver was quite determined he
would never do anything cowardly
Maggie stood in dismay and terror while Tom got up from the floor and
walked away pale from the scattered ruins of his pagoda and Lucy looked on
mutely like a kitten pausing from its lapping
»O Tom« said Maggie at last going halfway towards him »I didnt mean to
knock it down indeed indeed I didnt«
Tom took no notice of her but took instead two or three hard peas out of
his pocket and shot them with his thumbnail against the window vaguely at
first but presently with the distinct aim of hitting a superannuated
bluebottle which was exposing its imbecility in the spring sunshine clearly
against the views of Nature who had provided Tom and the peas for the speedy
destruction of this weak individual
Thus the morning had been made heavy to Maggie and Toms persistent
coldness to her all through their walk spoiled the fresh air and sunshine for
her He called Lucy to look at the halfbuilt birds nest without caring to show
it Maggie and peeled a willow switch for Lucy and himself without offering one
to Maggie Lucy had said »Maggie shouldnt you like one« but Tom was deaf
Still the sight of the peacock opportunely spreading his tail on the
stackyard wall just as they reached Garum Firs was enough to divert the mind
temporarily from personal grievances And this was only the beginning of
beautiful sights at Garum Firs All the farmyard life was wonderful there
bantams speckled and topknotted Friesland hens with their feathers all
turned the wrong way Guineafowls that flew and screamed and dropped their
prettyspotted feathers pouterpigeons and a tame magpie nay a goat and a
wonderful brindled dog half mastiff half bulldog as large as a lion Then
there were white railings and white gates all about and glittering weathercocks
of various design and gardenwalks paved with pebbles in beautiful patterns
nothing was quite common at Garum Firs and Tom thought that the unusual size of
the toads there was simply due to the general unusualness which characterised
uncle Pullets possessions as a gentleman farmer Toads who paid rent were
naturally leaner As for the house it was not less remarkable it had a
receding centre and two wings with battlemented turrets and was covered with
glittering white stucco
Uncle Pullet had seen the expected party approaching from the window and
made haste to unbar and unchain the front door kept always in this fortified
condition from fear of tramps who might be supposed to know of the glasscase
of stuffed birds in the hall and to contemplate rushing in and carrying it away
on their heads Aunt Pullet too appeared at the doorway and as soon as her
sister was within hearing said »Stop the children for Gods sake Bessy
dont let em come up the doorsteps Sallys bringing the old mat and the
duster to rub their shoes«
Mrs Pullets frontdoor mats were by no means intended to wipe shoes on
the very scraper had a deputy to do its dirty work Tom rebelled particularly
against this shoewiping which he always considered in the light of an
indignity to his sex He felt it as the beginning of the disagreeables incident
to a visit at aunt Pullets where he had once been compelled to sit with towels
wrapped round his boots a fact which may serve to correct the too hasty
conclusion that a visit to Garum Firs must have been a great treat to a young
gentleman fond of animals fond that is of throwing stones at them
The next disagreeable was confined to his feminine companions it was the
mounting of the polished oak stairs which had very handsome carpets rolled up
and laid by in a spare bedroom so that the ascent of these glossy steps might
have served in barbarous times as a trial by ordeal from which none but the
most spotless virtue could have come off with unbroken limbs Sophys weakness
about these polished stairs was always a subject of bitter remonstrance on Mrs
Gleggs part but Mrs Tulliver ventured on no comment only thinking to herself
it was a mercy when she and the children were safe on the landing
»Mrs Gray has sent home my new bonnet Bessy« said Mrs Pullet in a
pathetic tone as Mrs Tulliver adjusted her cap
»Has she sister« said Mrs Tulliver with an air of much interest »And
how do you like it«
»Its apt to make a mess with clothes taking em out and putting em in
again« said Mrs Pullet drawing a bunch of keys from her pocket and looking at
them earnestly »but it ud be a pity for you to go away without seeing it
Theres no knowing what may happen«
Mrs Pullet shook her head slowly at this last serious consideration which
determined her to single out a particular key
»Im afraid itll be troublesome to you getting it out sister« said Mrs
Tulliver »but I should like to see what sort of a crown shes made you«
Mrs Pullet rose with a melancholy air and unlocked one wing of a very
bright wardrobe where you may have hastily supposed she would find the new
bonnet Not at all Such a supposition could only have arisen from a too
superficial acquaintance with the habits of the Dodson family In this wardrobe
Mrs Pullet was seeking something small enough to be hidden among layers of
linen it was a doorkey
»You must come with me into the best room« said Mrs Pullet
»May the children come too sister« inquired Mrs Tulliver who saw that
Maggie and Lucy were looking rather eager
»Well« said aunt Pullet reflectively »itll perhaps be safer for em to
come theyll be touching something if we leave em behind«
So they went in procession along the bright and slippery corridor dimly
lighted by the semilunar top of the window which rose above the closed shutter
it was really quite solemn Aunt Pullet paused and unlocked a door which opened
on something still more solemn than the passage a darkened room in which the
outer light entering feebly showed what looked like the corpses of furniture
in white shrouds Everything that was not shrouded stood with its legs upwards
Lucy laid hold of Maggies frock and Maggies heart beat rapidly
Aunt Pullet halfopened the shutter and then unlocked the wardrobe with a
melancholy deliberateness which was quite in keeping with the funereal solemnity
of the scene The delicious scent of roseleaves that issued from the wardrobe
made the process of taking out sheet after sheet of silver paper quite pleasant
to assist at though the sight of the bonnet at last was an anticlimax to
Maggie who would have preferred something more strikingly preternatural But
few things could have been more impressive to Mrs Tulliver She looked all
round it in silence for some moments and then said emphatically »Well sister
Ill never speak against the full crowns again«
It was a great concession and Mrs Pullet felt it she felt something was
due to it
»Youd like to see it on sister« she said sadly »Ill open the shutter a
bit further«
»Well if you dont mind taking off your cap sister« said Mrs Tulliver
Mrs Pullet took off her cap displaying the brown silk scalp with a jutting
promontory of curls which was common to the more mature and judicious women of
those times and placing the bonnet on her head turned slowly round like a
drapers layfigure that Mrs Tulliver might miss no point of view
»Ive sometimes thought theres a loop too much o ribbon on this left side
sister what do you think« said Mrs Pullet
Mrs Tulliver looked earnestly at the point indicated and turned her head
on one side »Well I think its best as it is if you meddled with it sister
you might repent«
»Thats true« said aunt Pullet taking off the bonnet and looking at it
contemplatively
»How much might she charge you for that bonnet sister« said Mrs Tulliver
whose mind was actively engaged on the possibility of getting a humble imitation
of this chefdoeuvre made from a piece of silk she had at home
Mrs Pullet screwed up her mouth and shook her head and then whispered
»Pullet pays for it he said I was to have the best bonnet at Garum Church let
the next best be whose it would«
She began slowly to adjust the trimmings in preparation for returning it to
its place in the wardrobe and her thoughts seemed to have taken a melancholy
turn for she shook her head
»Ah« she said at last »I may never wear it twice sister who knows«
»Dont talk o that sister« answered Mrs Tulliver »I hope youll have
your health this summer«
»Ah but there may come a death in the family as there did soon after I had
my green satin bonnet Cousin Abbot may go and we cant think o wearing crape
less nor half a year for him«
»That would be unlucky« said Mrs Tulliver entering thoroughly into the
possibility of an inopportune decease »Theres never so much pleasure i
wearing a bonnet the second year especially when the crowns are so chancy
never two summers alike«
»Ah its the way i this world« said Mrs Pullet returning the bonnet to
the wardrobe and locking it up She maintained a silence characterised by
headshaking until they had all issued from the solemn chamber and were in her
own room again Then beginning to cry she said »Sister if you should never
see that bonnet again till Im dead and gone youll remember I showed it you
this day«
Mrs Tulliver felt that she ought to be affected but she was a woman of
sparse tears stout and healthy she couldnt cry so much as her sister Pullet
did and had often felt her deficiency at funerals Her effort to bring tears
into her eyes issued in an odd contraction of her face Maggie looking on
attentively felt that there was some painful mystery about her aunts bonnet
which she was considered to young to understand indignantly conscious all the
while that she could have understood that as well as everything else if she
had been taken into confidence
When they went down uncle Pullet observed with some acumen that he
reckoned the missis had been showing her bonnet that was what had made them so
long upstairs With Tom the interval had seemed still longer for he had been
seated in irksome constraint on the edge of a sofa directly opposite his uncle
Pullet who regarded him with twinkling grey eyes and occasionally addressed
him as »Young sir«
»Well young sir what do you learn at school« was a standing question with
uncle Pullet whereupon Tom always looked sheepish rubbed his hands across his
face and answered »I dont know« It was altogether so embarrassing to be
seated têteàtête with uncle Pullet that Tom could not even look at the prints
on the walls or the flycages or the wonderful flowerpots he saw nothing but
his uncles gaiters Not that Tom was in awe of his uncles mental superiority
indeed he had made up his mind that he didnt want to be a gentleman farmer
because he shouldnt like to be such a thinlegged silly fellow as his uncle
Pullet a mollycoddle in fact A boys sheepishness is by no means a sign of
overmastering reverence and while you are making encouraging advances to him
under the idea that he is overwhelmed by a sense of your age and wisdom ten to
one he is thinking you extremely queer The only consolation I can suggest to
you is that the Greek boys probably thought the same of Aristotle It is only
when you have mastered a restive horse or thrashed a drayman or have got a gun
in your hand that these shy juniors feel you to be a truly admirable and
enviable character At least I am quite sure of Tom Tullivers sentiments on
these points In very tender years when he still wore a lace border under his
outdoor cap he was often observed peeping through the bars of a gate and making
minatory gestures with his small forefinger while he scolded the sheep with an
inarticulate burr intended to strike terror into their astonished minds
indicating thus early that desire for mastery over the inferior animals wild
and domestic including cockchafers neighbours dogs and small sisters which
in all ages has been an attribute of so much promise for the fortunes of our
race Now Mr Pullet never rode anything taller than a low pony and was the
least predatory of men considering firearms dangerous as apt to go off of
themselves by nobodys particular desire So that Tom was not without strong
reasons when in confidential talk with a chum he had described uncle Pullet as
a nincompoop taking care at the same time to observe that he was a very »rich
fellow«
The only alleviating circumstance in a têteàtête with uncle Pullet was
that he kept a variety of lozenges and peppermint drops about his person and
when at a loss for conversation he filled up the void by proposing a mutual
solace of this kind
»Do you like peppermints young sir« required only a tacit answer when it
was accompanied by a presentation of the article in question
The appearance of the little girls suggested to uncle Pullet the further
solace of small sweetcakes of which he also kept a stock under lock and key
for his own private eating on wet days but the three children had no sooner got
the tempting delicacy between their fingers than aunt Pullet desired them to
abstain from eating it till the tray and the plates came since with those crisp
cakes they would make the floor »all over« crumbs Lucy didnt mind that much
for the cake was so pretty she thought it was rather a pity to eat it but Tom
watching his opportunity while the elders were talking hastily stowed it in his
mouth at two bites and chewed it furtively As for Maggie becoming fascinated
as usual by a print of Ulysses and Nausicaa which uncle Pullet had bought as a
»pretty Scripture thing« she presently let fall her cake and in an unlucky
movement crushed it beneath her foot a source of so much agitation to aunt
Pullet and conscious disgrace to Maggie that she began to despair of hearing
the musical snuffbox today till after some reflection it occurred to her
that Lucy was in high favour enough to venture on asking for a tune So she
whispered to Lucy and Lucy who always did what she was desired to do went up
quietly to her uncles knee and blushing all over her neck while she fingered
her necklace said »Will you please play us a tune uncle«
Lucy thought it was by reason of some exceptional talent in uncle Pullet
that the snuffbox played such beautiful tunes and indeed the thing was viewed
in that light by the majority of his neighbours in Garum Mr Pullet had bought
the box to begin with and he understood winding it up and knew which tune it
was going to play beforehand altogether the possession of this unique »piece
of music« was a proof that Mr Pullets character was not of that entire nullity
which might otherwise have been attributed to it But uncle Pullet when
entreated to exhibit his accomplishment never depreciated it by a too ready
consent »Well see about it« was the answer he always gave carefully
abstaining from any sign of compliance till a suitable number of minutes had
passed Uncle Pullet had a programme for all great social occasions and in this
way fenced himself in from much painful confusion and perplexing freedom of
will
Perhaps the suspense did heighten Maggies enjoyment when the fairy tune
began for the first time she quite forgot that she had a load on her mind
that Tom was angry with her and by the time »Hush ye pretty warbling choir«
had been played her face wore that bright look of happiness while she sat
immovable with her hands clasped which sometimes comforted her mother with the
sense that Maggie could look pretty now and then in spite of her brown skin
But when the magic music ceased she jumped up and running towards Tom put
her arm round his neck and said »O Tom isnt it pretty«
Lest you should think it showed a revolting insensibility in Tom that he
felt any new anger towards Maggie for this uncalledfor and to him
inexplicable caress I must tell you that he had his glass of cowslip wine in
his hand and that she jerked him so as to make him spill half of it He must
have been an extreme milksop not to say angrily »Look there now« especially
when his resentment was sanctioned as it was by general disapprobation of
Maggies behaviour
»Why dont you sit still Maggie« her mother said peevishly
»Little gells mustnt come to see me if they behave in that way« said aunt
Pullet
»Why youre too rough little miss« said uncle Pullet
Poor Maggie sat down again with the music all chased out of her soul and
the seven small demons all in again
Mrs Tulliver foreseeing nothing but misbehaviour while the children
remained indoors took an early opportunity of suggesting that now they were
rested after their walk they might go and play out of doors and aunt Pullet
gave permission only enjoining them not to go off the paved walks in the
garden and if they wanted to see the poultry fed to view them from a distance
on the horseblock a restriction which had been imposed ever since Tom had been
found guilty of running after the peacock with an illusory idea that fright
would make one of its feathers drop off
Mrs Tullivers thoughts had been temporarily diverted from the quarrel with
Mrs Glegg by millinery and maternal cares but now the great theme of the
bonnet was thrown into perspective and the children were out of the way
yesterdays anxieties recurred
»It weighs on my mind so as never was« she said by way of opening the
subject »sister Gleggs leaving the house in that way Im sure Id no wish t
offend a sister«
»Ah« said aunt Pullet »theres no accounting for what Jane ull do I
wouldnt speak of it out o the family if it wasnt to Dr Turnbull but its
my belief Jane lives too low Ive said so to Pullet often and often and he
knows it«
»Why you said so last Monday was a week when we came away from drinking
tea with em« said Mr Pullet beginning to nurse his knee and shelter it with
his pockethandkerchief as was his way when the conversation took an
interesting turn
»Very like I did« said Mrs Pullet »for you remember when I said things
better than I can remember myself Hes got a wonderful memory Pullet has« she
continued looking pathetically at her sister »I should be poorly off if he was
to have a stroke for he always remembers when Ive got to take my doctors
stuff and Im taking three sorts now«
»Theres the pills as before every other night and the new drops at eleven
and four and the fervescing mixture when agreeable« rehearsed Mr Pullet
with a punctuation determined by a lozenge on his tongue
»Ah perhaps it ud be better for sister Glegg if shed go to the doctor
sometimes instead o chewing Turkey rhubarb whenever theres anything the
matter with her« said Mrs Tulliver who naturally saw the wide subject of
medicine chiefly in relation to Mrs Glegg
»Its dreadful to think on« said aunt Pullet raising her hands and letting
them fall again »people playing with their own insides in that way And its
flying i the face o Providence for what are the doctors for if we arent to
call em in And when folks have got the money to pay for a doctor it isnt
respectable as Ive told Jane many a time Im ashamed of acquaintance knowing
it«
»Well weve no call to be ashamed« said Mr Pullet »for Doctor Turnbull
hasnt got such another patient as you i this parish now old Mrs Suttons
gone«
»Pullet keeps all my physicbottles did you know Bessy« said Mrs
Pullet »He wont have one sold He says its nothing but right folks should see
em when Im gone They fill two o the long storeroom shelves aready but«
she added beginning to cry a little »its well if they ever fill three I may
go before Ive made up the dozen o these last sizes The pillboxes are in the
closet in my room youll remember that sister but theres nothing to show
for the boluses if it isnt the bills«
»Dont talk o your going sister« said Mrs Tulliver »I should have
nobody to stand between me and sister Glegg if you was gone And theres nobody
but you can get her to make it up with Mr Tulliver for sister Deanes never o
my side and if she was its not to be looked for as she can speak like them as
have got an independent fortin«
»Well your husband is awkard you know Bessy« said Mrs Pullet
goodnaturedly ready to use her deep depression on her sisters account as well
as her own »Hes never behaved quite so pretty to our family as he should do
and the children take after him the boys very mischievous and runs away from
his aunts and uncles and the gells rude and brown Its your badluck and Im
sorry for you Bessy for you was allays my favourite sister and we allays
liked the same patterns«
»I know Tullivers hasty and says odd things« said Mrs Tulliver wiping
away one small tear from the corner of her eye »but Im sure hes never been
the man since he married me to object to my making the friends o my side o
the family welcome to the house«
»I dont want to make the worst of you Bessy« said Mrs Pullet
compassionately »for I doubt youll have trouble enough without that and your
husbands got that poor sister and her children hanging on him and so given
to lawing they say I doubt hell leave you poorly off when he dies Not as Id
have it said out o the family«
This view of her position was naturally far from cheering to Mrs Tulliver
Her imagination was not easily acted on but she could not help thinking that
her case was a hard one since it appeared that other people thought it hard
»Im sure sister I cant help myself« she said urged by the fear lest
her anticipated misfortunes might be held retributive to take a comprehensive
review of her past conduct »Theres no woman strives more for her children and
Im sure at scouringtime this Ladyday as Ive had all the bedhangings taken
down I did as much as the two gells put together and theres this last
elderflower wine Ive made beautiful I allays offer it along with the
sherry though sister Glegg will have it Im so extravagant and as for liking
to have my clothes tidy and not go a fright about the house theres nobody in
the parish can say anything against me in respect o backbiting and making
mischief for I dont wish anybody any harm and nobody loses by sending me a
porkpie for my pies are fit to show with the best o my neighbours and the
linens so in order as if I was to die tomorrow I shouldnt be ashamed A
woman can do no more nor she can«
»But its all o no use you know Bessy« said Mrs Pullet holding her
head on one side and fixing her eyes pathetically on her sister »if your
husband makes away with his money Not but what if you was sold up and other
folks bought your furniture its a comfort to think as youve kept it well
rubbed And theres the linen with your maiden mark on might go all over the
country It ud be a sad pity for our family« Mrs Pullet shook her head
slowly
»But what can I do sister« said Mrs Tulliver »Mr Tullivers not a man
to be dictated to not if I was to go to the parson and get by heart what I
should tell my husband for the best And Im sure I dont pretend to know
anything about putting out money and all that I could never see into mens
business as sister Glegg does«
»Well youre like me in that Bessy« said Mrs Pullet »and I think it ud
be a deal more becoming o Jane if shed have that pierglass rubbed oftener
there was ever so many spots on it last week instead o dictating to folks as
have more comings in than she ever had and telling em what theyve to do with
their money But Jane and me were allays contrairy she would have striped
things and I like spots You like a spot too Bessy we allays hung together i
that«
»Yes Sophy« said Mrs Tulliver »I remember our having a blue ground with
a white spot both alike Ive got a bit in a bedquilt now and if you would
but go and see sister Glegg and persuade her to make it up with Tulliver I
should take it very kind of you You was allays a good sister to me«
»But the right thing ud be for Tulliver to go and make it up with her
himself and say he was sorry for speaking so rash If hes borrowed money of
her he shouldnt be above that« said Mrs Pullet whose partiality did not
blind her to principles she did not forget what was due to people of
independent fortune
»Its no use talking o that« said poor Mrs Tulliver almost peevishly
»If I was to go down on my bare knees on the gravel to Tulliver hed never
humble himself«
»Well you cant expect me to persuade Jane to beg pardon« said Mrs
Pullet »Her tempers beyond everything its well if it doesnt carry her off
her mind though there never was any of our family went to a madhouse«
»Im not thinking of her begging pardon« said Mrs Tulliver »But if shed
just take no notice and not call her money in as its not so much for one
sister to ask of another time ud mend things and Tulliver ud forget all
about it and theyd be friends again«
Mrs Tulliver you perceive was not aware of her husbands irrevocable
determination to pay in the five hundred pounds at least such a determination
exceeded her powers of belief
»Well Bessy« said Mrs Pullet mournfully »I dont want to help you on to
ruin I wont be behindhand i doing you a good turn if it is to be done And I
dont like it said among acquaintance as weve got quarrels in the family I
shall tell Jane that and I dont mind driving to Janes tomorrow if Pullet
doesnt mind What do you say Mr Pullet«
»Ive no objections« said Mr Pullet who was perfectly contented with any
course the quarrel might take so that Mr Tulliver did not apply to him for
money Mr Pullet was nervous about his investments and did not see how a man
could have any security for his money unless he turned it into land
After a little further discussion as to whether it would not be better for
Mrs Tulliver to accompany them on a visit to sister Glegg Mrs Pullet
observing that it was teatime turned to reach from a drawer a delicate damask
napkin which she pinned before her in the fashion of an apron The door did in
fact soon open but instead of the teatray Sally introduced an object so
startling that both Mrs Pullet and Mrs Tulliver gave a scream causing uncle
Pullet to swallow his lozenge for the fifth time in his life as he afterwards
noted
Chapter X
Maggie Behaves Worse Than She Expected
The startling object which thus made an epoch for uncle Pullet was no other than
little Lucy with one side of her person from her small foot to her
bonnetcrown wet and discoloured with mud holding out two tiny blackened
hands and making a very piteous face To account for this unprecedented
apparition in aunt Pullets parlour we must return to the moment when the three
children went to play out of doors and the small demons who had taken
possession of Maggies soul at an early period of the day had returned in all
the greater force after a temporary absence All the disagreeable recollections
of the morning were thick upon her when Tom whose displeasure towards her had
been considerably refreshed by her foolish trick of causing him to upset his
cowslip wine said »Here Lucy you come along with me« and walked off to the
area where the toads were as if there were no Maggie in existence Seeing this
Maggie lingered at a distance looking like a small Medusa with her snakes
cropped Lucy was naturally pleased that cousin Tom was so good to her and it
was very amusing to see him tickling a fat toad with a piece of string when the
toad was safe down the area with an iron grating over him Still Lucy wished
Maggie to enjoy the spectacle also especially as she would doubtless find a
name for the toad and say what had been his past history for Lucy had a
delighted semibelief in Maggies stories about the live things they came upon
by accident how Mrs Earwig had a wash at home and one of her children had
fallen into the hot copper for which reason she was running so fast to fetch
the doctor Tom had a profound contempt for this nonsense of Maggies smashing
the earwig at once as a superfluous yet easy means of proving the entire
unreality of such a story but Lucy for the life of her could not help
fancying there was something in it and at all events thought it was very pretty
makebelieve So now the desire to know the history of a very portly toad added
to her habitual affectionateness made her run back to Maggie and say »O there
is such a big funny toad Maggie Do come and see«
Maggie said nothing but turned away from her with a deeper frown As long
as Tom seemed to prefer Lucy to her Lucy made part of his unkindness Maggie
would have thought a little while ago that she could never be cross with pretty
little Lucy any more than she could be cruel to a little white mouse but then
Tom had always been quite indifferent to Lucy before and it had been left to
Maggie to pet and make much of her As it was she was actually beginning to
think that she should like to make Lucy cry by slapping or pinching her
especially as it might vex Tom whom it was of no use to slap even if she
dared because he didnt mind it And if Lucy hadnt been there Maggie was sure
he would have got friends with her sooner
Tickling a fat toad who is not highly sensitive is an amusement that it is
possible to exhaust and Tom byandby began to look round for some other mode
of passing the time But in so prim a garden where they were not to go off the
paved walks there was not a great choice of sport The only great pleasure such
a restriction suggested was the pleasure of breaking it and Tom began to
meditate an insurrectionary visit to the pond about a fields length beyond the
garden
»I say Lucy« he began nodding his head up and down with great
significance as he coiled up his string again »what do you think I mean to
do«
»What Tom« said Lucy with curiosity
»I mean to go to the pond and look at the pike You may go with me if you
like« said the young sultan
»O Tom dare you« said Lucy »Aunt said we mustnt go out of the garden«
»O I shall go out at the other end of the garden« said Tom »Nobody ull
see us Besides I dont care if they do Ill run off home«
»But I couldnt run« said Lucy who had never before been exposed to such
severe temptation
»O never mind they wont be cross with you« said Tom »You say I took
you«
Tom walked along and Lucy trotted by his side timidly enjoying the rare
treat of doing something naughty excited also by the mention of that
celebrity the pike about which she was quite uncertain whether it was a fish
or a fowl Maggie saw them leaving the garden and could not resist the impulse
to follow Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects
than love and that Tom and Lucy should do or see anything of which she was
ignorant would have been an intolerable idea to Maggie So she kept a few yards
behind them unobserved by Tom who was presently absorbed in watching for the
pike a highly interesting monster he was said to be so very old so very
large and to have such a remarkable appetite The pike like other celebrities
did not show when he was watched for but Tom caught sight of something in rapid
movement in the water which attracted him to another spot on the brink of the
pond
»Here Lucy« he said in a loud whisper »come here take care keep on the
grass dont step where the cows have been« he added pointing to a peninsula
of dry grass with trodden mud on each side of it for Toms contemptuous
conception of a girl included the attribute of being unfit to walk in dirty
places
Lucy came carefully as she was bidden and bent down to look at what seemed
a golden arrowhead darting through the water It was a watersnake Tom told
her and Lucy at last could see the serpentine wave of its body very much
wondering that a snake could swim Maggie had drawn nearer and nearer she must
see it too though it was bitter to her like everything else since Tom did not
care about her seeing it At last she was close by Lucy and Tom who had been
aware of her approach but would not notice it till he was obliged turned round
and said
»Now get away Maggie theres no room for you on the grass here Nobody
asked you to come«
There were passions at war in Maggie at that moment to have made a tragedy
if tragedies were made by passion only but the essential ti megetos which was
present in the passion was wanting to the action the utmost Maggie could do
with a fierce thrust of her small brown arm was to push poor little
pinkandwhite Lucy into the cowtrodden mud
Then Tom could not restrain himself and gave Maggie two smart slaps on the
arm as he ran to pick up Lucy who lay crying helplessly Maggie retreated to
the roots of a tree a few yards off and looked on impenitently Usually her
repentance came quickly after one rash deed but now Tom and Lucy had made her
so miserable she was glad to spoil their happiness glad to make everybody
uncomfortable Why should she be sorry Tom was very slow to forgive her
however sorry she might have been
»I shall tell mother you know Miss Mag« said Tom loudly and
emphatically as soon as Lucy was up and ready to walk away It was not Toms
practice to »tell« but here justice clearly demanded that Maggie should be
visited with the utmost punishment not that Tom had learnt to put his views in
that abstract form he never mentioned »justice« and had no idea that his
desire to punish might be called by that fine name Lucy was too entirely
absorbed by the evil that had befallen her the spoiling of her pretty best
clothes and the discomfort of being wet and dirty to think much of the cause
which was entirely mysterious to her She could never have guessed what she had
done to make Maggie angry with her but she felt that Maggie was very unkind and
disagreeable and made no magnanimous entreaties to Tom that he would not
»tell« only running along by his side and crying piteously while Maggie sat on
the roots of the tree and looked after them with her small Medusa face
»Sally« said Tom when they reached the kitchen door and Sally looked at
them in speechless amaze with a piece of breadandbutter in her mouth and a
toastingfork in her hand »Sally tell mother it was Maggie pushed Lucy into
the mud«
»But Lors ha massy how did you get near such mud as that« said Sally
making a wry face as she stooped down and examined the corpus delicti
Toms imagination had not been rapid and capacious enough to include this
question among the foreseen consequences but it was no sooner put than he
foresaw whither it tended and that Maggie would not be considered the only
culprit in the case He walked quietly away from the kitchen door leaving Sally
to that pleasure of guessing which active minds notoriously prefer to readymade
knowledge
Sally as you are aware lost no time in presenting Lucy at the parlour
door for to have so dirty an object introduced into the house at Garum Firs was
too great a weight to be sustained by a single mind
»Goodness gracious« aunt Pullet exclaimed after preluding by an
inarticulate scream »keep her at the door Sally Dont bring her off the
oilcloth whatever you do«
»Why shes tumbled into some nasty mud« said Mrs Tulliver going up to
Lucy to examine into the amount of damage to clothes for which she felt herself
responsible to her sister Deane
»If you please um it was Miss Maggie as pushed her in« said Sally
»Master Toms been and said so and they must ha been to the pond for its
only there they could ha got into such dirt«
»There it is Bessy its what Ive been telling you« said Mrs Pullet in
a tone of prophetic sadness »its your children theres no knowing what
theyll come to«
Mrs Tulliver was mute feeling herself a truly wretched mother As usual
the thought pressed upon her that people would think she had done something
wicked to deserve her maternal troubles while Mrs Pullet began to give
elaborate directions to Sally how to guard the premises from serious injury in
the course of removing the dirt Meantime tea was to be brought in by the cook
and the two naughty children were to have theirs in an ignominious manner in the
kitchen Mrs Tulliver went out to speak to these naughty children supposing
them to be close at hand but it was not until after some search that she found
Tom leaning with rather a hardened careless air against the white paling of the
poultryyard and lowering his piece of string on the other side as a means of
exasperating the turkeycock
»Tom you naughty boy wheres your sister« said Mrs Tulliver in a
distressed voice
»I dont know« said Tom his eagerness for justice on Maggie had diminished
since he had seen clearly that it could hardly be brought about without the
injustice of some blame on his own conduct
»Why where did you leave her« said his mother looking round
»Sitting under the tree against the pond« said Tom apparently indifferent
to everything but the string and the turkeycock
»Then go and fetch her in this minute you naughty boy And how could you
think o going to the pond and taking your sister where there was dirt You
know shell do mischief if theres mischief to be done«
It was Mrs Tullivers way if she blamed Tom to refer his misdemeanour
somehow or other to Maggie
The idea of Maggie sitting alone by the pond roused an habitual fear in
Mrs Tullivers mind and she mounted the horseblock to satisfy herself by a
sight of that fatal child while Tom walked not very quickly on his way
towards her
»Theyre such children for the water mine are« she said aloud without
reflecting that there was no one to hear her »theyll be brought in dead and
drownded some day I wish that river was far enough«
But when she not only failed to discern Maggie but presently saw Tom
returning from the pool alone this hovering fear entered and took complete
possession of her and she hurried to meet him
»Maggies nowhere about the pond mother« said Tom »shes gone away«
You may conceive the terrified search for Maggie and the difficulty of
convincing her mother that she was not in the pond Mrs Pullet observed that
the child might come to a worse end if she lived there was no knowing and Mr
Pullet confused and overwhelmed by this revolutionary aspect of things the
tea deferred and the poultry alarmed by the unusual running to and fro took up
his spud as an instrument of search and reached down a key to unlock the
goosepen as a likely place for Maggie to lie concealed in
Tom after a while started the idea that Maggie was gone home without
thinking it necessary to state that it was what he should have done himself
under the circumstances and the suggestion was seized as a comfort by his
mother
»Sister for goodness sake let em put the horse in the carriage and take
me home we shall perhaps find her on the road Lucy cant walk in her dirty
clothes« she said looking at that innocent victim who was wrapped up in a
shawl and sitting with naked feet on the sofa
Aunt Pullet was quite willing to take the shortest means of restoring her
premises to order and quiet and it was not long before Mrs Tulliver was in the
chaise looking anxiously at the most distant point before her What the father
would say if Maggie was lost was a question that predominated over every other
Chapter XI
Maggie Tries to Run Away From Her Shadow
Maggies intentions as usual were on a larger scale than Tom had imagined The
resolution that gathered in her mind after Tom and Lucy had walked away was
not so simple as that of going home No she would run away and go to the
gypsies and Tom should never see her any more That was by no means a new idea
to Maggie she had been so often told she was like a gypsy and »half wild«
that when she was miserable it seemed to her the only way of escaping
opprobrium and being entirely in harmony with circumstances would be to live in
a little brown tent on the commons the gypsies she considered would gladly
receive her and pay her much respect on account of her superior knowledge She
had once mentioned her views on this point to Tom and suggested that he should
stain his face brown and they should run away together but Tom rejected the
scheme with contempt observing that gypsies were thieves and hardly got
anything to eat and had nothing to drive but a donkey Today however Maggie
thought her misery had reached a pitch at which gypsydom was her only refuge
and she rose from her seat on the roots of the tree with the sense that this was
a great crisis in her life she would run straight away till she came to Dunlow
Common where there would certainly be gypsies and cruel Tom and the rest of
her relations who found fault with her should never see her any more She
thought of her father as she ran along but she reconciled herself to the idea
of parting with him by determining that she would secretly send him a letter by
a small gypsy who would run away without telling where she was and just let
him know that she was well and happy and always loved him very much
Maggie soon got out of breath with running but by the time Tom got to the
pond again she was at the distance of three long fields and was on the edge of
the lane leading to the highroad She stopped to pant a little reflecting that
running away was not a pleasant thing until one had got quite to the common
where the gypsies were but her resolution had not abated she presently passed
through the gate into the lane not knowing where it would lead her for it was
not this way that they came from Dorlcote Mill to Garum Firs and she felt all
the safer for that because there was no chance of her being overtaken But she
was soon aware not without trembling that there were two men coming along the
lane in front of her she had not thought of meeting strangers she had been
too much occupied with the idea of her friends coming after her The formidable
strangers were two shabbylooking men with flushed faces one of them carrying a
bundle on a stick over his shoulder but to her surprise while she was dreading
their disapprobation as a runaway the man with the bundle stopped and in a
halfwhining halfcoaxing tone asked her if she had a copper to give a poor man
Maggie had a sixpence in her pocket her uncle Gleggs present which she
immediately drew out and gave this poor man with a polite smile hoping he would
feel very kindly towards her as a generous person »Thats the only money Ive
got« she said apologetically »Thank you little miss« said the man in a less
respectful and grateful tone than Maggie anticipated and she even observed that
he smiled and winked at his companion She walked on hurriedly but was aware
that the two men were standing still probably to look after her and she
presently heard them laughing loudly Suddenly it occurred to her that they
might think she was an idiot Tom had said that her cropped hair made her look
like an idiot and it was too painful an idea to be readily forgotten Besides
she had no sleeves on only a cape and a bonnet It was clear that she was not
likely to make a favourable impression on passengers and she thought she would
turn into the fields again but not on the same side of the lane as before lest
they should still be uncle Pullets fields She turned through the first gate
that was not locked and felt a delightful sense of privacy in creeping along by
the hedgerows after her recent humiliating encounter She was used to wandering
about the fields by herself and was less timid there than on the highroad
Sometimes she had to climb over high gates but that was a small evil she was
getting out of reach very fast and she should probably soon come within sight
of Dunlow Common or at least of some other common for she had heard her father
say that you couldnt go very far without coming to a common She hoped so for
she was getting rather tired and hungry and until she reached the gypsies there
was no definite prospect of breadandbutter It was still broad daylight for
aunt Pullet retaining the early habits of the Dodson family took tea at
halfpast four by the sun and at five by the kitchen clock so though it was
nearly an hour since Maggie started there was no gathering gloom on the fields
to remind her that the night would come Still it seemed to her that she had
been walking a very great distance indeed and it was really surprising that the
common did not come within sight Hitherto she had been in the rich parish of
Garum where there was a great deal of pastureland and she had only seen one
labourer at a distance That was fortunate in some respects as labourers might
be too ignorant to understand the propriety of her wanting to go to Dunlow
Common yet it would have been better if she could have met some one who would
tell her the way without wanting to know anything about her private business At
last however the green fields came to an end and Maggie found herself looking
through the bars of a gate into a lane with a wide margin of grass on each side
of it She had never seen such a wide lane before and without her knowing why
it gave her the impression that the common could not be far off perhaps it was
because she saw a donkey with a log to his foot feeding on the grassy margin
for she had seen a donkey with that pitiable encumbrance on Dunlow Common when
she had been across it in her fathers gig She crept through the bars of the
gate and walked on with new spirit though not without haunting images of
Apollyon and a highwayman with a pistol and a blinking dwarf in yellow with a
mouth from ear to ear and other miscellaneous dangers For poor little Maggie
had at once the timidity of an active imagination and the daring that comes from
overmastering impulse She had rushed into the adventure of seeking her unknown
kindred the gypsies and now she was in this strange lane she hardly dared
look on one side of her lest she should see the diabolical blacksmith in his
leathern apron grinning at her with arms akimbo It was not without a leaping of
the heart that she caught sight of a small pair of bare legs sticking up feet
uppermost by the side of a hillock they seemed something hideously
preternatural a diabolical kind of fungus for she was too much agitated at
the first glance to see the ragged clothes and the dark shaggy head attached to
them It was a boy asleep and Maggie trotted along faster and more lightly
lest she should wake him it did not occur to her that he was one of her friends
the gypsies who in all probability would have very genial manners But the fact
was so for at the next bend in the lane Maggie actually saw the little
semicircular black tent with the blue smoke rising before it which was to be
her refuge from all the blighting obloquy that had pursued her in civilised
life She even saw a tall female figure by the column of smoke doubtless the
gypsymother who provided the tea and other groceries it was astonishing to
herself that she did not feel more delighted But it was startling to find the
gypsies in a lane after all and not on a common indeed it was rather
disappointing for a mysterious illimitable common where there were sandpits
to hide in and one was out of everybodys reach had always made part of
Maggies picture of gypsy life She went on however and thought with some
comfort that gypsies most likely knew nothing about idiots so there was no
danger of their falling into the mistake of setting her down at the first glance
as an idiot It was plain she had attracted attention for the tall figure who
proved to be a young woman with a baby on her arm walked slowly to meet her
Maggie looked up in the new face rather tremblingly as it approached and was
reassured by the thought that her aunt Pullet and the rest were right when they
called her a gypsy for this face with the bright dark eyes and the long hair
was really something like what she used to see in the glass before she cut her
hair off
»My little lady where are you going to« the gypsy said in a tone of
coaxing deference
It was delightful and just what Maggie expected the gypsies saw at once
that she was a little lady and were prepared to treat her accordingly
»Not any farther« said Maggie feeling as if she were saying what she had
rehearsed in a dream »Im come to stay with you please«
»Thats pretty come then Why what a nice little lady you are to be
sure« said the gypsy taking her by the hand Maggie thought her very
agreeable but wished she had not been so dirty
There was quite a group round the fire when they reached it An old gypsy
woman was seated on the ground nursing her knees and occasionally poking a
skewer into the round kettle that sent forth an odorous steam two small
shockheaded children were lying prone and resting on their elbows something
like small sphinxes and a placid donkey was bending his head over a tall girl
who lying on her back was scratching his nose and indulging him with a bite of
excellent stolen hay The slanting sunlight fell kindly upon them and the scene
was really very pretty and comfortable Maggie thought only she hoped they
would soon set out the teacups Everything would be quite charming when she had
taught the gypsies to use a washingbasin and to feel an interest in books It
was a little confusing though that the young woman began to speak to the old
one in a language which Maggie did not understand while the tall girl who was
feeding the donkey sat up and stared at her without offering any salutation At
last the old woman said
»What my pretty lady are you come to stay with us Sit ye down and tell us
where ye come from«
It was just like a story Maggie liked to be called pretty lady and treated
in this way She sat down and said
»Im come from home because Im unhappy and I mean to be a gypsy Ill live
with you if you like and I can teach you a great many things«
»Such a clever little lady« said the woman with the baby sitting down by
Maggie and allowing baby to crawl »and such a pretty bonnet and frock« she
added taking off Maggies bonnet and looking at it while she made an
observation to the old woman in the unknown language The tall girl snatched
the bonnet and put it on her own head hindforemost with a grin but Maggie was
determined not to show any weakness on this subject as if she were susceptible
about her bonnet
»I dont want to wear a bonnet« she said »Id rather wear a red
handkerchief like yours« looking at her friend by her side »my hair was
quite long till yesterday when I cut it off but I daresay it will grow again
very soon« she added apologetically thinking it probable the gypsies had a
strong prejudice in favour of long hair And Maggie had forgotten even her
hunger at that moment in the desire to conciliate gypsy opinion
»O what a nice little lady and rich Im sure« said the old woman
»Didnt you live in a beautiful house at home«
»Yes my home is pretty and Im very fond of the river where we go fishing
but Im often very unhappy I should have liked to bring my books with me but
I came away in a hurry you know But I can tell you almost everything there is
in my books Ive read them so many times and that will amuse you And I can
tell you something about Geography too thats about the world we live in
very useful and interesting Did you ever hear about Columbus«
Maggies eyes had begun to sparkle and her cheeks to flush she was really
beginning to instruct the gypsies and gaining great influence over them The
gypsies themselves were not without amazement at this talk though their
attention was divided by the contents of Maggies pocket which the friend at
her right hand had by this time emptied without attracting her notice
»Is that where you live my little lady« said the old woman at the mention
of Columbus
»O no« said Maggie with some pity »Columbus was a very wonderful man who
found out half the world and they put chains on him and treated him very badly
you know its in my Catechism of Geography but perhaps its rather too long
to tell before tea I want my tea so«
The last words burst from Maggie in spite of herself with a sudden drop
from patronising instruction to simple peevishness
»Why shes hungry poor little lady« said the younger woman »Give her
some o the cold victual Youve been walking a good way Ill be bound my
dear Wheres your home«
»Its Dorlcote Mill a good way off« said Maggie »My father is Mr
Tulliver but we mustnt let him know where I am else hell fetch me home
again Where does the queen of the gypsies live«
»What do you want to go to her my little lady« said the younger woman
The tall girl meanwhile was constantly staring at Maggie and grinning Her
manners were certainly not agreeable
»No« said Maggie »Im only thinking that if she isnt a very good queen
you might be glad when she died and you could choose another If I was a queen
Id be a very good queen and kind to everybody«
»Heres a bit o nice victual then« said the old woman handing to Maggie
a lump of dry bread which she had taken from a bag of scraps and a piece of
cold bacon
»Thank you« said Maggie looking at the food without taking it »but will
you give me some breadandbutter and tea instead I dont like bacon«
»Weve got no tea nor butter« said the old woman with something like a
scowl as if she were getting tired of coaxing
»O a little bread and treacle would do« said Maggie
»We hant got no treacle« said the old woman crossly whereupon there
followed a sharp dialogue between the two women in their unknown tongue and one
of the small sphinxes snatched at the breadandbacon and began to eat it At
this moment the tall girl who had gone a few yards off came back and said
something which produced a strong effect The old woman seeming to forget
Maggies hunger poked the skewer into the pot with new vigour and the younger
crept under the tent and reached out some platters and spoons Maggie trembled
a little and was afraid the tears would come into her eyes Meanwhile the tall
girl gave a shrill cry and presently came running up the boy whom Maggie had
passed as he was sleeping a rough urchin about the age of Tom He stared at
Maggie and there ensued much incomprehensible chattering She felt very lonely
and was quite sure she should begin to cry before long the gypsies didnt seem
to mind her at all and she felt quite weak among them But the springing tears
were checked by new terror when two men came up whose approach had been the
cause of the sudden excitement The elder of the two carried a bag which he
flung down addressing the women in a loud and scolding tone which they
answered by a shower of treble sauciness while a black cur ran barking up to
Maggie and threw her into a tremor that only found a new cause in the curses
with which the younger man called the dog off and gave him a rap with a great
stick he held in his hand
Maggie felt that it was impossible she should ever be queen of these people
or even communicate to them amusing and useful knowledge
Both the men now seemed to be inquiring about Maggie for they looked at
her and the tone of the conversation became of that pacific kind which implies
curiosity on one side and the power of satisfying it on the other At last the
younger woman said in her previous deferential coaxing tone
»This nice little ladys come to live with us arent you glad«
»Ay very glad« said the younger man who was looking at Maggies silver
thimble and other small matters that had been taken from her pocket He returned
them all except the thimble to the younger woman with some observation and she
immediately restored them to Maggies pocket while the men seated themselves
and began to attack the contents of the kettle a stew of meat and potatoes
which had been taken off the fire and turned out into a yellow platter
Maggie began to think that Tom must be right about the gypsies they must
certainly be thieves unless the man meant to return her thimble byandby She
would willingly have given it to him for she was not at all attached to her
thimble but the idea that she was among thieves prevented her from feeling any
comfort in the revival of deference and attention towards her all thieves
except Robin Hood were wicked people The women saw she was frightened
»Weve got nothing nice for a lady to eat« said the old woman in her
coaxing tone »And shes so hungry sweet little lady«
»Here my dear try if you can eat a bit o this« said the younger woman
handing some of the stew on a brown dish with an iron spoon to Maggie who
remembering that the old woman had seemed angry with her for not liking the
breadandbacon dared not refuse the stew though fear had chased away her
appetite If her father would but come by in the gig and take her up Or even if
Jack the Giantkiller or Mr Greatheart or St George who slew the dragon on the
halfpennies would happen to pass that way But Maggie thought with a sinking
heart that these heroes were never seen in the neighbourhood of St Oggs
nothing very wonderful ever came there
Maggie Tulliver you perceive was by no means that welltrained
wellinformed young person that a small female of eight or nine necessarily is
in these days she had only been to school a year at St Oggs and had so few
books that she sometimes read the dictionary so that in travelling over her
small mind you would have found the most unexpected ignorance as well as
unexpected knowledge She could have informed you that there was such a word as
»polygamy« and being also acquainted with »polysyllable« she had deduced the
conclusion that »poly« meant »many« but she had had no idea that gypsies were
not well supplied with groceries and her thoughts generally were the oddest
mixture of cleareyed acumen and blind dreams
Her ideas about the gypsies had undergone a rapid modification in the last
five minutes From having considered them very respectful companions amenable
to instruction she had begun to think that they meant perhaps to kill her as
soon as it was dark and cut up her body for gradual cooking the suspicion
crossed her that the fierceeyed old man was in fact the devil who might drop
that transparent disguise at any moment and turn either into the grinning
blacksmith or else a fieryeyed monster with dragons wings It was no use
trying to eat the stew and yet the thing she most dreaded was to offend the
gypsies by betraying her extremely unfavourable opinion of them and she
wondered with a keenness of interest that no theologian could have exceeded
whether if the devil were really present he would know her thoughts
»What you dont like the smell of it my dear« said the young woman
observing that Maggie did not even take a spoonful of the stew »Try a bit
come«
»No thank you« said Maggie summoning all her force for a desperate
effort and trying to smile in a friendly way »I havent time I think it
seems getting darker I think I must go home now and come again another day
and then I can bring you a basket with some jamtarts and things«
Maggie rose from her seat as she threw out this illusory prospect devoutly
hoping that Apollyon was gullible but her hope sank when the old gypsywoman
said »Stop a bit stop a bit little lady well take you home all safe when
weve done supper you shall ride home like a lady«
Maggie sat down again with little faith in this promise though she
presently saw the tall girl putting a bridle on the donkey and throwing a
couple of bags on his back
»Now then little missis« said the younger man rising and leading the
donkey forward »tell us where you live whats the name o the place«
»Dorlcote Mill is my home« said Maggie eagerly »My father is Mr Tulliver
he lives there«
»What a big mill a little way this side o St Oggs«
»Yes« said Maggie »Is it far off I think I should like to walk there if
you please«
»No no itll be getting dark we must make haste And the donkey ll carry
you as nice as can be youll see«
He lifted Maggie as he spoke and set her on the donkey She felt relieved
that it was not the old man who seemed to be going with her but she had only a
trembling hope that she was really going home
»Heres your pretty bonnet« said the younger woman putting that
recentlydespised but now welcome article of costume on Maggies head »and
youll say weve been very good to you wont you and what a nice little lady
we said you was«
»O yes thank you« said Maggie »Im very much obliged to you But I wish
youd go with me too« She thought anything was better than going with one of
the dreadful men alone it would be more cheerful to be murdered by a larger
party
»Ah youre fondest o me arent you« said the woman »But I cant go
youll go too fast for me«
It now appeared that the man also was to be seated on the donkey holding
Maggie before him and she was as incapable of remonstrating against this
arrangement as the donkey himself though no nightmare had ever seemed to her
more horrible When the woman had patted her on the back and said »Goodbye«
the donkey at a strong hint from the mans stick set off at a rapid walk along
the lane towards the point Maggie had come from an hour ago while the tall girl
and the rough urchin also furnished with sticks obligingly escorted them for
the first hundred yards with much screaming and thwacking
Not Leonore in that preternatural midnight excursion with her phantom
lover was more terrified than poor Maggie in this entirely natural ride on a
shortpaced donkey with a gypsy behind her who considered that he was earning
halfacrown The red light of the setting sun seemed to have a portentous
meaning with which the alarming bray of the second donkey with the log on its
foot must surely have some connection Two low thatched cottages the only
houses they passed in this lane seemed to add to its dreariness they had no
windows to speak of and the doors were closed it was probable that they were
inhabited by witches and it was a relief to find that the donkey did not stop
there
At last O sight of joy this lane the longest in the world was coming
to an end was opening on a broad highroad where there was actually a coach
passing And there was a fingerpost at the corner she had surely seen that
fingerpost before »To St Oggs 2 miles« The gypsy really meant to take her
home then he was probably a good man after all and might have been rather
hurt at the thought that she didnt like coming with him alone This idea became
stronger as she felt more and more certain that she knew the road quite well
and she was considering how she might open a conversation with the injured
gypsy and not only gratify his feelings but efface the impression of her
cowardice when as they reached a crossroad Maggie caught sight of some one
coming on a whitefaced horse
»O stop stop« she cried out »Theres my father O father father«
The sudden joy was almost painful and before her father reached her she
was sobbing Great was Mr Tullivers wonder for he had made a round from
Basset and had not yet been home
»Why whats the meaning o this« he said checking his horse while Maggie
slipped from the donkey and ran to her fathers stirrup
»The little miss lost herself I reckon« said the gypsy »Shed come to our
tent at the far end o Dudlow Lane and I was bringing her where she said her
home was Its a good way to come arter being on the tramp all day«
»O yes father hes been very good to bring me home« said Maggie »A very
kind good man«
»Here then my man« said Mr Tulliver taking out five shillings »Its
the best days work you ever did I couldnt afford to lose the little wench
here lift her up before me«
»Why Maggie hows this hows this« he said as they rode along while
she laid her head against her father and sobbed »How came you to be rambling
about and lose yourself«
»O father« sobbed Maggie »I ran away because I was so unhappy Tom was
so angry with me I couldnt bear it«
»Pooh pooh« said Mr Tulliver soothingly »you mustnt think o running
away from father What ud father do without his little wench«
»O no I never will again father never«
Mr Tulliver spoke his mind very strongly when he reached home that evening
and the effect was seen in the remarkable fact that Maggie never heard one
reproach from her mother or one taunt from Tom about this foolish business of
her running away to the gypsies Maggie was rather awestricken by this unusual
treatment and sometimes thought that her conduct had been too wicked to be
alluded to
Chapter XII
Mr and Mrs Glegg at Home
In order to see Mr and Mrs Glegg at home we must enter the town of St Oggs
that venerable town with the redfluted roofs and the broad warehouse gables
where the black ships unlade themselves of their burthens from the far north
and carry away in exchange the precious inland products the wellcrushed
cheese and the soft fleeces which my refined readers have doubtless become
acquainted with through the medium of the best classic pastorals
It is one of those old old towns which impress one as a continuation and
outgrowth of nature as much as the nests of the bowerbirds or the winding
galleries of the white ants a town which carries the traces of its long growth
and history like a millennial tree and has sprung up and developed in the same
spot between the river and the low hill from the time when the Roman legions
turned their backs on it from the camp on the hillside and the longhaired
seakings came up the river and looked with fierce eager eyes at the fatness of
the land It is a town »familiar with forgotten years« The shadow of the Saxon
heroking still walks there fitfully reviewing the scenes of his youth and
lovetime and is met by the gloomier shadow of the dreadful heathen Dane who
was stabbed in the midst of his warriors by the sword of an invisible avenger
and who rises on autumn evenings like a white mist from his tumulus on the hill
and hovers in the court of the old hall by the riverside the spot where he
was thus miraculously slain in the days before the old hall was built It was
the Normans who began to build that fine old hall which is like the town
telling of the thoughts and hands of widelysundered generations but it is all
so old that we look with loving pardon at its inconsistencies and are well
content that they who built the stone oriel and they who built the Gothic
façade and towers of finest small brickwork with the trefoil ornament and the
windows and battlements defined with stone did not sacrilegiously pull down the
ancient halftimbered body with its oakroofed banquetinghall
But older even than this old hall is perhaps the bit of wall now built into
the belfry of the parish church and said to be a remnant of the original chapel
dedicated to St Ogg the patron saint of this ancient town of whose history I
possess several manuscript versions I incline to the briefest since if it
should not be wholly true it is at least likely to contain the least falsehood
»Ogg the son of Beorl« says my private hagiographer »was a boatman who gained
a scanty living by ferrying passengers across the river Floss And it came to
pass one evening when the winds were high that there sat moaning by the brink
of the river a woman with a child in her arms and she was clad in rags and had
a worn and withered look and she craved to be rowed across the river And the
men thereabout questioned her and said Wherefore dost thou desire to cross the
river Tarry till the morning and take shelter here for the night so shalt
thou be wise and not foolish Still she went on to mourn and crave But Ogg the
son of Beorl came up and said I will ferry thee across it is enough that thy
heart needs it And he ferried her across And it came to pass when she stepped
ashore that her rags were turned into robes of flowing white and her face
became bright with exceeding beauty and there was a glory around it so that
she shed a light on the water like the moon in its brightness And she said
Ogg the son of Beorl thou art blessed in that thou didst not question and
wrangle with the hearts need but wast smitten with pity and didst straightway
relieve the same And from henceforth whoso steps into thy boat shall be in no
peril from the storm and whenever it puts forth to the rescue it shall save
the lives both of men and beasts And when the floods came many were saved by
reason of that blessing on the boat But when Ogg the son of Beorl died behold
in the parting of his soul the boat loosed itself from its moorings and was
floated with the ebbing tide in great swiftness to the ocean and was seen no
more Yet it was witnessed in the floods of aftertime that at the coming on of
eventide Ogg the son of Beorl was always seen with his boat upon the
widespreading waters and the Blessed Virgin sat in the prow shedding a light
around as of the moon in its brightness so that the rowers in the gathering
darkness took heart and pulled anew«
This legend one sees reflects from a faroff time the visitation of the
floods which even when they left human life untouched were widely fatal to
the helpless cattle and swept as sudden death over all smaller living things
But the town knew worse troubles even than the floods troubles of the civil
wars when it was a continual fightingplace where first Puritans thanked God
for the blood of the Loyalists and then Loyalists thanked God for the blood of
the Puritans Many honest citizens lost all their possessions for conscience
sake in those times and went forth beggared from their native town Doubtless
there are many houses standing now on which those honest citizens turned their
backs in sorrow quaintgabled houses looking on the river jammed between newer
warehouses and penetrated by surprising passages which turn and turn at sharp
angles till they lead you out on a muddy strand overflowed continually by the
rushing tide Everywhere the brick houses have a mellow look and in Mrs
Gleggs day there was no incongruous newfashioned smartness no plateglass in
shop windows no fresh stuccofacing or other fallacious attempt to make fine
old red St Oggs wear the air of a town that sprang up yesterday The shop
windows were small and unpretending for the farmers wives and daughters who
came to do their shopping on marketdays were not to be withdrawn from their
regular wellknown shops and the tradesmen had no wares intended for customers
who would go on their way and be seen no more Ah even Mrs Gleggs day seems
far back in the past now separated from us by changes that widen the years War
and the rumour of war had then died out from the minds of men and if they were
ever thought of by the farmers in drab greatcoats who shook the grain out of
their samplebags and buzzed over it in the full marketplace it was as a state
of things that belonged to a past golden age when prices were high Surely the
time was gone for ever when the broad river could bring up unwelcome ships
Russia was only the place where the linseed came from the more the better
making grist for the great vertical millstones with their scythe arms roaring
and grinding and carefully sweeping as if an informing soul were in them The
Catholics bad harvests and the mysterious fluctuations of trade were the
three evils mankind had to fear even the floods had not been great of late
years The mind of St Oggs did not look extensively before or after It
inherited a long past without thinking of it and had no eyes for the spirits
that walk the streets Since the centuries when St Ogg with his boat and the
Virgin Mother at the prow had been seen on the wide water so many memories had
been left behind and had gradually vanished like the receding hilltops And
the present time was like the level plain where men lose their belief in
volcanoes and earthquakes thinking tomorrow will be as yesterday and the
giant forces that used to shake the earth are for ever laid to sleep The days
were gone when people could be greatly wrought upon by their faith still less
change it the Catholics were formidable because they would lay hold of
government and property and burn men alive not because any sane and honest
parishioner of St Oggs could be brought to believe in the Pope One aged person
remembered how a rude multitude had been swayed when John Wesley preached in the
cattlemarket but for a long while it had not been expected of preachers that
they should shake the souls of men An occasional burst of fervour in
Dissenting pulpits on the subject of infant baptism was the only symptom of a
zeal unsuited to sober times when men had done with change Protestantism sat at
ease unmindful of schisms careless of proselytism Dissent was an inheritance
along with a superior pew and a business connection and Churchmanship only
wondered contemptuously at Dissent as a foolish habit that clung greatly to
families in the grocery and chandlering lines though not incompatible with
prosperous wholesale dealing But with the Catholic Question had come a slight
wind of controversy to break the calm the elderly rector had become
occasionally historical and argumentative and Mr Spray the Independent
minister had begun to preach political sermons in which he distinguished with
much subtlety between his fervent belief in the right of the Catholics to the
franchise and his fervent belief in their eternal perdition Most of Mr Sprays
hearers however were incapable of following his subtleties and many
oldfashioned Dissenters were much pained by his »siding with the Catholics«
while others thought he had better let politics alone Public spirit was not
held in high esteem at St Oggs and men who busied themselves with political
questions were regarded with some suspicion as dangerous characters they were
usually persons who had little or no business of their own to manage or if
they had were likely enough to become insolvent
This was the general aspect of things at St Oggs in Mrs Gleggs day and
at that particular period in her family history when she had had her quarrel
with Mr Tulliver It was a time when ignorance was much more comfortable than
at present and was received with all the honours in very good society without
being obliged to dress itself in an elaborate costume of knowledge a time when
cheap periodicals were not and when country surgeons never thought of asking
their female patients if they were fond of reading but simply took it for
granted that they preferred gossip a time when ladies in rich silk gowns wore
large pockets in which they carried a muttonbone to secure them against cramp
Mrs Glegg carried such a bone which she had inherited from her grandmother
with a brocaded gown that would stand up empty like a suit of armour and a
silverheaded walkingstick for the Dodson family had been respectable for many
generations
Mrs Glegg had both a front and a back parlour in her excellent house at St
Oggs so that she had two points of view from which she could observe the
weakness of her fellowbeings and reinforce her thankfulness for her own
exceptional strength of mind From her front windows she could look down the
Tofton Road leading out of St Oggs and note the growing tendency to »gadding
about« in the wives of men not retired from business together with a practice
of wearing woven cotton stockings which opened a dreary prospect for the coming
generation and from her back windows she could look down the pleasant garden
and orchard which stretched to the river and observe the folly of Mr Glegg in
spending his time among »them flowers and vegetables« For Mr Glegg having
retired from active business as a woolstapler for the purpose of enjoying
himself through the rest of his life had found this last occupation so much
more severe than his business that he had been driven into amateur hard labour
as a dissipation and habitually relaxed by doing the work of two ordinary
gardeners The economising of a gardeners wages might perhaps have induced Mrs
Glegg to wink at this folly if it were possible for a healthy female mind even
to simulate respect for a husbands hobby But it is well known that this
conjugal complacency belongs only to the weaker portion of the sex who are
scarcely alive to the responsibilities of a wife as a constituted check on her
husbands pleasures which are hardly ever of a rational or commendable kind
Mr Glegg on his side too had a double source of mental occupation which
gave every promise of being inexhaustible On the one hand he surprised himself
by his discoveries in natural history finding that his piece of gardenground
contained wonderful caterpillars slugs and insects which so far as he had
heard had never before attracted human observation and he noticed remarkable
coincidences between these zoological phenomena and the great events of that
time as for example that before the burning of York Minster there had been
mysterious serpentine marks on the leaves of the rosetrees together with an
unusual prevalence of slugs which he had been puzzled to know the meaning of
until it flashed upon him with this melancholy conflagration Mr Glegg had an
unusual amount of mental activity which when disengaged from the wool
business naturally made itself a pathway in other directions And his second
subject of meditation was the »contrairiness« of the female mind as typically
exhibited in Mrs Glegg That a creature made in a genealogical sense out of
a mans rib and in this particular case maintained in the highest
respectability without any trouble of her own should be normally in a state of
contradiction to the blandest propositions and even to the most accommodating
concessions was a mystery in the scheme of things to which he had often in vain
sought a clue in the early chapters of Genesis Mr Glegg had chosen the eldest
Miss Dodson as a handsome embodiment of female prudence and thrift and being
himself of a moneygetting moneykeeping turn had calculated on much conjugal
harmony But in that curious compound the feminine character it may easily
happen that the flavour is unpleasant in spite of excellent ingredients and a
fine systematic stinginess may be accompanied with a seasoning that quite spoils
its relish Now good Mr Glegg himself was stingy in the most amiable manner
his neighbours called him »near« which always means that the person in question
is a lovable skinflint If you expressed a preference for cheeseparings Mr
Glegg would remember to save them for you with a goodnatured delight in
gratifying your palate and he was given to pet all animals which required no
appreciable keep There was no humbug or hypocrisy about Mr Glegg his eyes
would have watered with true feeling over the sale of a widows furniture which
a fivepound note from his sidepocket would have prevented but a donation of
five pounds to a person »in a small way of life« would have seemed to him a mad
kind of lavishness rather than »charity« which had always presented itself to
him as a contribution of small aids not a neutralising of misfortune And Mr
Glegg was just as fond of saving other peoples money as his own he would have
ridden as far round to avoid a turnpike when his expenses were to be paid for
him as when they were to come out of his own pocket and was quite zealous in
trying to induce indifferent acquaintances to adopt a cheap substitute for
blacking This inalienable habit of saving as an end in itself belonged to the
industrious men of business of a former generation who made their fortunes
slowly almost as the tracking of the fox belongs to the harrier it
constituted them a »race« which is nearly lost in these days of rapid
moneygetting when lavishness comes close on the back of want In oldfashioned
times an »independence« was hardly ever made without a little miserliness as a
condition and you would have found that quality in every provincial district
combined with characters as various as the fruits from which we can extract
acid The true Harpagons were always marked and exceptional characters not so
the worthy taxpayers who having once pinched from real necessity retained
even in the midst of their comfortable retirement with their wallfruit and
winebins the habit of regarding life as an ingenious process of nibbling out
ones livelihood without leaving any perceptible deficit and who would have
been as immediately prompted to give up a newlytaxed luxury when they had their
clear five hundred ayear as when they had only five hundred pounds of capital
Mr Glegg was one of these men found so impracticable by chancellors of the
exchequer and knowing this you will be the better able to understand why he
had not swerved from the conviction that he had made an eligible marriage in
spite of the too pungent seasoning that nature had given to the eldest Miss
Dodsons virtues A man with an affectionate disposition who finds a wife to
concur with his fundamental idea of life easily comes to persuade himself that
no other woman would have suited him so well and does a little daily snapping
and quarrelling without any sense of alienation Mr Glegg being of a
reflective turn and no longer occupied with wool had much wondering meditation
on the peculiar constitution of the female mind as unfolded to him in his
domestic life and yet he thought Mrs Gleggs household ways a model for her
sex it struck him as a pitiable irregularity in other women if they did not
roll up their tablenapkins with the same tightness and emphasis as Mrs Glegg
did if their pastry had a less leathery consistence and their damson cheese a
less venerable hardness than hers nay even the peculiar combination of grocery
and druglike odours in Mrs Gleggs private cupboard impressed him as the only
right thing in the way of cupboard smells I am not sure that he would not have
longed for the quarrelling again if it had ceased for an entire week and it is
certain that an acquiescent mild wife would have left his meditations
comparatively jejune and barren of mystery
Mr Gleggs unmistakeable kindheartedness was shown in this that it pained
him more to see his wife at variance with others even with Dolly the servant
than to be in a state of cavil with her himself and the quarrel between her
and Mr Tulliver vexed him so much that it quite nullified the pleasure he would
otherwise have had in the state of his early cabbages as he walked in his
garden before breakfast the next morning Still he went into breakfast with some
slight hope that now Mrs Glegg had »slept upon it« her anger might be subdued
enough to give way to her usually strong sense of family decorum She had been
used to boast that there had never been any of those deadly quarrels among the
Dodsons which had disgraced other families that no Dodson had ever been »cut
off with a shilling« and no cousin of the Dodsons disowned as indeed why
should they be for they had no cousins who had not money out at use or some
houses of their own at the very least
There was one eveningcloud which had always disappeared from Mrs Gleggs
brow when she sat at the breakfasttable it was her fuzzy front of curls for
as she occupied herself in household matters in the morning it would have been
a mere extravagance to put on anything so superfluous to the making of leathery
pastry as a fuzzy curled front By halfpast ten decorum demanded the front
until then Mrs Glegg could economise it and society would never be any the
wiser But the absence of that cloud only left it more apparent that the cloud
of severity remained and Mr Glegg perceiving this as he sat down to his
milkporridge which it was his old frugal habit to stem his morning hunger
with prudently resolved to leave the first remark to Mrs Glegg lest to so
delicate an article as a ladys temper the slightest touch should do mischief
People who seem to enjoy their illtemper have a way of keeping it in fine
condition by inflicting privations on themselves That was Mrs Gleggs way she
made her tea weaker than usual this morning and declined butter It was a hard
case that a vigorous mood for quarrelling so highly capable of using any
opportunity should not meet with a single remark from Mr Glegg on which to
exercise itself But byandby it appeared that his silence would answer the
purpose for he heard himself apostrophised at last in that tone peculiar to the
wife of ones bosom
»Well Mr Glegg its a poor return I get for making you the wife Ive made
you all these years If this is the way Im to be treated Id better ha known
it before my poor father died and then when Id wanted a home I should ha
gone elsewhere as the choice was offered me«
Mr Glegg paused from his porridge and looked up not with any new
amazement but simply with that quiet habitual wonder with which we regard
constant mysteries
»Why Mrs G what have I done now«
»Done now Mr Glegg done now Im sorry for you«
Not seeing his way to any pertinent answer Mr Glegg reverted to his
porridge
»Theres husbands in the world« continued Mrs Glegg after a pause »as
ud have known how to do something different to siding with everybody else
against their own wives Perhaps Im wrong and you can teach me better But
Ive allays heard as its the husbands place to stand by the wife instead o
rejoicing and triumphing when folks insult her«
»Now what call have you to say that« said Mr Glegg rather warmly for
though a kind man he was not as meek as Moses »When did I rejoice or triumph
over you«
»Theres ways o doing things worse than speaking out plain Mr Glegg Id
sooner youd tell me to my face as you make light of me than try to make out as
everybodys in the right but me and come to your breakfast in the morning as
Ive hardly slept an hour this night and sulk at me as if I was the dirt under
your feet«
»Sulk at you« said Mr Glegg in a tone of angry facetiousness »Youre
like a tipsy man as thinks everybodys had too much but himself«
»Dont lower yourself with using coarse language to me Mr Glegg It makes
you look very small though you cant see yourself« said Mrs Glegg in a tone
of energetic compassion »A man in your place should set an example and talk
more sensible«
»Yes but will you listen to sense« retorted Mr Glegg sharply »The best
sense I can talk to you is what I said last night as youre i the wrong to
think o calling in your money when its safe enough if youd let it alone all
because of a bit of a tiff and I was in hopes youd ha altered your mind this
morning But if youd like to call it in dont do it in a hurry now and breed
more enmity in the family but wait till theres a pretty mortgage to be had
without any trouble Youd have to set the lawyer to work now to find an
investment and make no end o expense«
Mrs Glegg felt there was really something in this but she tossed her head
and emitted a guttural interjection to indicate that her silence was only an
armistice not a peace And in fact hostilities soon broke out again
»Ill thank you for my cup o tea now Mrs G« said Mr Glegg seeing
that she did not proceed to give it him as usual when he had finished his
porridge She lifted the teapot with a slight toss of the head and said
»Im glad to hear youll thank me Mr Glegg Its little thanks I get for
what I do for folks i this world Though theres never a woman o your side o
the family Mr Glegg as is fit to stand up with me and Id say it if I was on
my dying bed Not but what Ive allays conducted myself civil to your kin and
there isnt one of em can say the contrary though my equils they arent and
nobody shall make me say it«
»Youd better leave finding fault wi my kin till youve left off
quarrelling with your own Mrs G« said Mr Glegg with angry sarcasm »Ill
trouble you for the milkjug«
»Thats as false a word as ever you spoke Mr Glegg« said the lady
pouring out the milk with unusual profuseness as much as to say if he wanted
milk he should have it with a vengeance »And you know its false Im not the
woman to quarrel with my own kin you may for Ive known you do it«
»Why what did you call it yesterday then leaving your sisters house in a
tantrum«
»Id no quarrel wi my sister Mr Glegg and its false to say it Mr
Tullivers none o my blood and it was him quarrelled with me and drove me out
o the house But perhaps youd have had me stay and be swore at Mr Glegg
perhaps you was vexed not to hear more abuse and foul language poured out upo
your own wife But let me tell you its your disgrace«
»Did ever anybody hear the like i this parish« said Mr Glegg getting
hot »A woman with everything provided for her and allowed to keep her own
money the same as if it was settled on her and with a gig new stuffed and lined
at no end o expense and provided for when I die beyond anything she could
expect to go on i this way biting and snapping like a mad dog Its beyond
everything as God Amighty should ha made women so« These last words were
uttered in a tone of sorrowful agitation Mr Glegg pushed his tea from him and
tapped the table with both his hands
»Well Mr Glegg if those are your feelings its best they should be
known« said Mrs Glegg taking off her napkin and folding it in an excited
manner »But if you talk o my being provided for beyond what I could expect I
beg leave to tell you as Id a right to expect a many things as I dont find
And as to my being like a mad dog its well if youre not cried shame on by the
county for your treatment of me for its what I cant bear and I wont bear«
Here Mrs Gleggs voice intimated that she was going to cry and breaking
off from speech she rang the bell violently
»Sally« she said rising from her chair and speaking in rather a choked
voice »light a fire upstairs and put the blinds down Mr Glegg youll
please to order what youd like for dinner I shall have gruel«
Mrs Glegg walked across the room to the small bookcase and took down
Baxters »Saints Everlasting Rest« which she carried with her upstairs It
was the book she was accustomed to lay open before her on special occasions on
wet Sunday mornings or when she heard of a death in the family or when as in
this case her quarrel with Mr Glegg had been set an octave higher than usual
But Mrs Glegg carried something else upstairs with her which together
with the »Saints Rest« and the gruel may have had some influence in gradually
calming her feelings and making it possible for her to endure existence on the
groundfloor shortly before teatime This was partly Mr Gleggs suggestion
that she would do well to let her five hundred lie still until a good investment
turned up and further his parenthetic hint at his handsome provision for her
in case of his death Mr Glegg like all men of his stamp was extremely
reticent about his will and Mrs Glegg in her gloomier moments had
forebodings that like other husbands of whom she had heard he might cherish
the mean project of heightening her grief at his death by leaving her poorly
off in which case she was firmly resolved that she would have scarcely any
weeper on her bonnet and would cry no more than if he had been a second
husband But if he had really shown her any testamentary tenderness it would be
affecting to think of him poor man when he was gone and even his foolish fuss
about the flowers and gardenstuff and his insistance on the subject of snails
would be touching when it was once fairly at an end To survive Mr Glegg and
talk eulogistically of him as a man who might have his weaknesses but who had
done the right thing by her notwithstanding his numerous poor relations to
have sums of interest coming in more frequently and secrete it in various
corners baffling to the most ingenious of thieves for to Mrs Gleggs mind
banks and strongboxes would have nullified the pleasure of property she might
as well have taken her food in capsules finally to be looked up to by her
own family and the neighbourhood so as no woman can ever hope to be who has not
the præterite and present dignity comprised in being a »widow well left« all
this made a flattering and conciliatory view of the future So that when good
Mr Glegg restored to goodhumour by much hoeing and moved by the sight of his
wifes empty chair with her knitting rolled up in the corner went upstairs to
her and observed that the bell had been tolling for poor Mr Morton Mrs Glegg
answered magnanimously quite as if she had been an uninjured woman »Ah then
therell be a good business for somebody to take to«
Baxter had been open at least eight hours by this time for it was nearly
five oclock and if people are to quarrel often it follows as a corollary that
their quarrels cannot be protracted beyond certain limits
Mr and Mrs Glegg talked quite amicably about the Tullivers that evening
Mr Glegg went the length of admitting that Tulliver was a sad man for getting
into hot water and was like enough to run through his property and Mrs Glegg
meeting this acknowledgment halfway declared that it was beneath her to take
notice of such a mans conduct and that for her sisters sake she would let
him keep the five hundred a while longer for when she put it out on a mortgage
she should only get four per cent
Chapter XIII
Mr Tulliver Further Entangles the Skein of Life
Owing to this new adjustment of Mrs Gleggs thoughts Mrs Pullet found her
task of mediation the next day surprisingly easy Mrs Glegg indeed checked
her rather sharply for thinking it would be necessary to tell her eldest sister
what was the right mode of behaviour in family matters Mrs Pullets argument
that it would look ill in the neighbourhood if people should have it in their
power to say that there was a quarrel in the family was particularly offensive
If the family name never suffered except through Mrs Glegg Mrs Pullet might
lay her head on her pillow in perfect confidence
»Its not to be expected I suppose« observed Mrs Glegg by way of winding
up the subject »as I shall go to the mill again before Bessy comes to see me
or as I shall go and fall down o my knees to Mr Tulliver and ask his pardon
for showing him favours but I shall bear no malice and when Mr Tulliver
speaks civil to me Ill speak civil to him Nobody has any call to tell me
whats becoming«
Finding it unnecessary to plead for the Tullivers it was natural that aunt
Pullet should relax a little in her anxiety for them and recur to the annoyance
she had suffered yesterday from the offspring of that apparently illfated
house Mrs Glegg heard a circumstantial narrative to which Mr Pullets
remarkable memory furnished some items and while aunt Pullet pitied poor
Bessys badluck with her children and expressed a halfformed project of
paying for Maggies being sent to a distant boardingschool which would not
prevent her being so brown but might tend to subdue some other vices in her
aunt Glegg blamed Bessy for her weakness and appealed to all witnesses who
should be living when the Tulliver children had turned out ill that she Mrs
Glegg had always said how it would be from the very first observing that it
was wonderful to herself how all her words came true
»Then I may call and tell Bessy youll bear no malice and everything be as
it was before« Mrs Pullet said just before parting
»Yes you may Sophy« said Mrs Glegg »you may tell Mr Tulliver and
Bessy too as Im not going to behave ill because folks behave ill to me I know
its my place as the eldest to set an example in every respect and I do it
Nobody can say different of me if theyll keep to the truth«
Mrs Glegg being in this state of satisfaction in her own lofty magnanimity
I leave you to judge what effect was produced on her by the reception of a short
letter from Mr Tulliver that very evening after Mrs Pullets departure
informing her that she neednt trouble her mind about her five hundred pounds
for it should be paid back to her in the course of the next month at farthest
together with the interest due thereon until the time of payment And
furthermore that Mr Tulliver had no wish to behave uncivilly to Mrs Glegg
and she was welcome to his house whenever she liked to come but he desired no
favours from her either for himself or his children
It was poor Mrs Tulliver who had hastened this catastrophe entirely
through that irrepressible hopefulness of hers which led her to expect that
similar causes may at any time produce different results It had very often
occurred in her experience that Mr Tulliver had done something because other
people had said he was not able to do it or had pitied him for his supposed
inability or in any other way piqued his pride still she thought today if
she told him when he came in to tea that sister Pullet was gone to try and make
everything up with sister Glegg so that he neednt think about paying in the
money it would give a cheerful effect to the meal Mr Tulliver had never
slackened in his resolve to raise the money but now he at once determined to
write a letter to Mrs Glegg which should cut off all possibility of mistake
Mrs Pullet gone to beg and pray for him indeed Mr Tulliver did not willingly
write a letter and found the relation between spoken and written language
riefly known as spelling one of the most puzzling things in this puzzling
world Nevertheless like all fervid writing the task was done in less time
than usual and if the spelling differed from Mrs Gleggs why she belonged
like himself to a generation with whom spelling was a matter of private
judgment
Mrs Glegg did not alter her will in consequence of this letter and cut off
the Tulliver children from their sixth and seventh share in her thousand pounds
for she had her principles No one must be able to say of her when she was dead
that she had not divided her money with perfect fairness among her own kin in
the matter of wills personal qualities were subordinate to the great
fundamental fact of blood and to be determined in the distribution of your
property by caprice and not make your legacies bear a direct ratio to degrees
of kinship was a prospective disgrace that would have embittered her life This
had always been a principle in the Dodson family it was one form of that sense
of honour and rectitude which was a proud tradition in such families a
tradition which has been the salt of our provincial society
But though the letter could not shake Mrs Gleggs principles it made the
family breach much more difficult to mend and as to the effect it produced on
Mrs Gleggs opinion of Mr Tulliver she begged to be understood from that
time forth that she had nothing whatever to say about him his state of mind
apparently was too corrupt for her to contemplate it for a moment It was not
until the evening before Tom went to school at the beginning of August that
Mrs Glegg paid a visit to her sister Tulliver sitting in her gig all the
while and showing her displeasure by markedly abstaining from all advice and
criticism for as she observed to her sister Deane »Bessy must bear the
consequence o having such a husband though Im sorry for her« and Mrs Deane
agreed that Bessy was pitiable
That evening Tom observed to Maggie »O my Maggie aunt Gleggs beginning
to come again Im glad Im going to school Youll catch it all now«
Maggie was already so full of sorrow at the thought of Toms going away from
her that this playful exultation of his seemed very unkind and she cried
herself to sleep that night
Mr Tullivers prompt procedure entailed on him further promptitude in
finding the convenient person who was desirous of lending five hundred pounds on
bond »It must be no client of Wakems« he said to himself and yet at the end
of a fortnight it turned out to the contrary not because Mr Tullivers will
was feeble but because external fact was stronger Wakems client was the only
convenient person to be found Mr Tulliver had a destiny as well as OEdipus
and in this case he might plead like OEdipus that his deed was inflicted on
him rather than committed by him
Book Second
SchoolTime
Chapter I
Toms »First Half«
Tom Tullivers sufferings during the first quarter he was at Kings Lorton
under the distinguished care of the Rev Walter Stelling were rather severe At
Mr Jacobs academy life had not presented itself to him as a difficult
problem there were plenty of fellows to play with and Tom being good at all
active games fighting especially had that precedence among them which
appeared to him inseparable from the personality of Tom Tulliver Mr Jacobs
himself familiarly known as Old Goggles from his habit of wearing spectacles
imposed no painful awe and if it was the property of snuffy old hypocrites like
him to write like copperplate and surround their signatures with arabesques to
spell without forethought and to spout »My name is Norval« without bungling
Tom for his part was rather glad he was not in danger of those mean
accomplishments He was not going to be a snuffy schoolmaster he but a
substantial man like his father who used to go hunting when he was younger
and rode a capital black mare as pretty a bit of horseflesh as ever you saw
Tom had heard what her points were a hundred times He meant to go hunting too
and to be generally respected When people were grown up he considered nobody
inquired about their writing and spelling when he was a man he should be
master of everything and do just as he liked It had been very difficult for
him to reconcile himself to the idea that his schooltime was to be prolonged
and that he was not to be brought up to his fathers business which he had
always thought extremely pleasant for it was nothing but riding about giving
orders and going to market and he thought that a clergyman would give him a
great many Scripture lessons and probably make him learn the Gospel and Epistle
on a Sunday as well as the Collect But in the absence of Specific information
it was impossible for him to imagine that school and a schoolmaster would be
something entirely different from the academy of Mr Jacobs So not to be at a
deficiency in case of his finding genial companions he had taken care to carry
with him a small box of percussioncaps not that there was anything particular
to be done with them but they would serve to impress strange boys with a sense
of his familiarity with guns Thus poor Tom though he saw very clearly through
Maggies illusions was not without illusions of his own which were to be
cruelly dissipated by his enlarged experience at Kings Lorton
He had not been there a fortnight before it was evident to him that life
complicated not only with the Latin grammar but with a new standard of English
pronunciation was a very difficult business made all the more obscure by a
thick mist of bashfulness Tom as you have observed was never an exception
among boys for ease of address but the difficulty of enunciating a monosyllable
in reply to Mr or Mrs Stelling was so great that he even dreaded to be asked
at table whether he would have more pudding As to the percussioncaps he had
almost resolved in the bitterness of his heart that he would throw them into a
neighbouring pond for not only was he the solitary pupil but he began even to
have a certain scepticism about guns and a general sense that his theory of
life was undermined For Mr Stelling thought nothing of guns or horses either
apparently and yet it was impossible for Tom to despise Mr Stelling as he had
despised Old Goggles If there were anything that was not thoroughly genuine
about Mr Stelling it lay quite beyond Toms power to detect it it is only by
a wide comparison of facts that the wisest fullgrown man can distinguish
wellrolled barrels from more supernal thunder
Mr Stelling was a wellsized broadchested man not yet thirty with
flaxen hair standing erect and large lightishgrey eyes which were always very
wide open he had a sonorous bass voice and an air of defiant selfconfidence
inclining to brazenness He had entered on his career with great vigour and
intended to make a considerable impression on his fellowmen The Rev Walter
Stelling was not a man who would remain among the »inferior clergy« all his
life He had a true British determination to push his way in the world As a
schoolmaster in the first place for there were capital masterships of
grammarschools to be had and Mr Stelling meant to have one of them But as a
preacher also for he meant always to preach in a striking manner so as to have
his congregation swelled by admirers from neighbouring parishes and to produce
a great sensation whenever he took occasional duty for a brother clergyman of
minor gifts The style of preaching he had chosen was the extemporaneous which
was held little short of the miraculous in rural parishes like Kings Lorton
Some passages of Massillon and Bourdaloue which he knew by heart were really
very effective when rolled out in Mr Stellings deepest tones but as
comparatively feeble appeals of his own were delivered in the same loud and
impressive manner they were often thought quite as striking by his hearers Mr
Stellings doctrine was of no particular school if anything it had a tinge of
evangelicalism for that was »the telling thing« just then in the diocese to
which Kings Lorton belonged In short Mr Stelling was a man who meant to rise
in his profession and to rise by merit clearly since he had no interest
beyond what might be promised by a problematic relationship to a great lawyer
who had not yet become Lord Chancellor A clergyman who has such vigorous
intentions naturally gets a little into debt at starting it is not to be
expected that he will live in the meagre style of a man who means to be a poor
curate all his life and if the few hundreds Mr Timpson advanced towards his
daughters fortune did not suffice for the purchase of handsome furniture
together with a stock of wine a grand piano and the layingout of a superior
flowergarden it followed in the most rigorous manner either that these things
must be procured by some other means or else that the Rev Mr Stelling must go
without them which last alternative would be an absurd procrastination of the
fruits of success where success was certain Mr Stelling was so broadchested
and resolute that he felt equal to anything he would become celebrated by
shaking the consciences of his hearers and he would byandby edit a Greek
play and invent several new readings He had not yet selected the play for
having been married little more than two years his leisure time had been much
occupied with attentions to Mrs Stelling but he had told that fine woman what
he meant to do some day and she felt great confidence in her husband as a man
who understood everything of that sort
But the immediate step to future success was to bring on Tom Tulliver during
this first halfyear for by a singular coincidence there had been some
negotiation concerning another pupil from the same neighbourhood and it might
further a decision in Mr Stellings favour if it were understood that young
Tulliver who Mr Stelling observed in conjugal privacy was rather a rough
cub had made prodigious progress in a short time It was on this ground that he
was severe with Tom about his lessons he was clearly a boy whose powers would
never be developed through the medium of the Latin grammar without the
application of some sternness Not that Mr Stelling was a harshtempered or
unkind man quite the contrary he was jocose with Tom at table and corrected
his provincialisms and his deportment in the most playful manner but poor Tom
was only the more cowed and confused by this double novelty for he had never
been used to jokes at all like Mr Stellings and for the first time in his
life he had a painful sense that he was all wrong somehow When Mr Stelling
said as the roastbeef was being uncovered »Now Tulliver which would you
rather decline roastbeef or the Latin for it« Tom to whom in his coolest
moments a pun would have been a hard nut was thrown into a state of embarrassed
alarm that made everything dim to him except the feeling that he would rather
not have anything to do with Latin of course he answered »Roastbeef«
whereupon there followed much laughter and some practical joking with the
plates from which Tom gathered that he had in some mysterious way refused beef
and in fact made himself appear »a silly« If he could have seen a
fellowpupil undergo these painful operations and survive them in good spirits
he might sooner have taken them as a matter of course But there are two
expensive forms of education either of which a parent may procure for his son
by sending him as solitary pupil to a clergyman one is the enjoyment of the
reverend gentlemans undivided neglect the other is the endurance of the
reverend gentlemans undivided attention It was the latter privilege for which
Mr Tulliver paid a high price in Toms initiatory months at Kings Lorton
That respectable miller and maltster had left Tom behind and driven
homeward in a state of great mental satisfaction He considered that it was a
happy moment for him when he had thought of asking Rileys advice about a tutor
for Tom Mr Stellings eyes were so wide open and he talked in such an
offhand matteroffact way answering every difficult slow remark of Mr
Tullivers with »I see my good sir I see« »To be sure to be sure« »You
want your son to be a man who will make his way in the world« that Mr
Tulliver was delighted to find in him a clergyman whose knowledge was so
applicable to the everyday affairs of this life Except Counsellor Wylde whom
he had heard at the last sessions Mr Tulliver thought the Rev Mr Stelling
was the shrewdest fellow he had ever met with not unlike Wylde in fact he
had the same way of sticking his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat Mr
Tulliver was not by any means an exception in mistaking brazenness for
shrewdness most laymen thought Stelling shrewd and a man of remarkable powers
generally it was chiefly by his clerical brethren that he was considered rather
a dull fellow But he told Mr Tulliver several stories about »Swing« and
incendiarism and asked his advice about feeding pigs in so thoroughly secular
and judicious a manner with so much polished glibness of tongue that the
miller thought here was the very thing he wanted for Tom He had no doubt this
firstrate man was acquainted with every branch of information and knew exactly
what Tom must learn in order to become a match for the lawyers which poor Mr
Tulliver himself did not know and so was necessarily thrown for selfdirection
on this wide kind of inference It is hardly fair to laugh at him for I have
known much more highlyinstructed persons than he make inferences quite as wide
and not at all wiser
As for Mrs Tulliver finding that Mrs Stellings views as to the airing
of linen and the frequent recurrence of hunger in a growing boy entirely
coincided with her own moreover that Mrs Stelling though so young a woman
and only anticipating her second confinement had gone through very nearly the
same experience as herself with regard to the behaviour and fundamental
character of the monthly nurse she expressed great contentment to her husband
when they drove away at leaving Tom with a woman who in spite of her youth
seemed quite sensible and motherly and asked advice as prettily as could be
»They must be very well off though« said Mrs Tulliver »for everythings
as nice as can be all over the house and that wateredsilk she had on cost a
pretty penny Sister Pullet has got one like it«
»Ah« said Mr Tulliver »hes got some income besides the curacy I reckon
Perhaps her father allows em something Theres Tom ull be another hundred to
him and not much trouble either by his own account he says teaching comes
natural to him Thats wonderful now« added Mr Tulliver turning his head on
one side and giving his horse a meditative tickling on the flank
Perhaps it was because teaching came naturally to Mr Stelling that he set
about it with that uniformity of method and independence of circumstances which
distinguish the actions of animals understood to be under the immediate teaching
of nature Mr Broderips amiable beaver as that charming naturalist tells us
busied himself as earnestly in constructing a dam in a room up three pair of
stairs in London as if he had been laying his foundation in a stream or lake in
Upper Canada It was »Binnys« function to build the absence of water or of
possible progeny was an accident for which he was not accountable With the same
unerring instinct Mr Stelling set to work at his natural method of instilling
the Eton Grammar and Euclid into the mind of Tom Tulliver This he considered
was the only basis of solid instruction all other means of education were mere
charlatanism and could produce nothing better than smatterers Fixed on this
firm basis a man might observe the display of various or special knowledge made
by irregularly educated people with a pitying smile all that sort of thing was
very well but it was impossible these people could form sound opinions In
holding this conviction Mr Stelling was not biassed as some tutors have been
by the excessive accuracy or extent of his own scholarship and as to his views
about Euclid no opinion could have been freer from personal partiality Mr
Stelling was very far from being led astray by enthusiasm either religious or
intellectual on the other hand he had no secret belief that everything was
humbug He thought religion was a very excellent thing and Aristotle a great
authority and deaneries and prebends useful institutions and Great Britain the
providential bulwark of Protestantism and faith in the unseen a great support
to afflicted minds he believed in all these things as a Swiss hotelkeeper
believes in the beauty of the scenery around him and in the pleasure it gives
to artistic visitors And in the same way Mr Stelling believed in his method of
education he had no doubt that he was doing the very best thing for Mr
Tullivers boy Of course when the miller talked of »mapping« and »summing« in
a vague and diffident manner Mr Stelling had set his mind at rest by an
assurance that he understood what was wanted for how was it possible the good
man could form any reasonable judgment about the matter Mr Stellings duty was
to teach the lad in the only right way indeed he knew no other he had not
wasted his time in the acquirement of anything abnormal
He very soon set down poor Tom as a thoroughly stupid lad for though by hard
labour he could get particular declensions into his brain anything so abstract
as the relation between cases and terminations could by no means get such a
lodgment there as to enable him to recognise a chance genitive or dative This
struck Mr Stelling as something more than natural stupidity he suspected
obstinacy or at any rate indifference and lectured Tom severely on his want
of thorough application »You feel no interest in what youre doing sir« Mr
Stelling would say and the reproach was painfully true Tom had never found any
difficulty in discerning a pointer from a setter when once he had been told the
distinction and his perceptive powers were not at all deficient I fancy they
were quite as strong as those of the Rev Mr Stelling for Tom could predict
with accuracy what number of horses were cantering behind him he could throw a
stone right into the centre of a given ripple he could guess to a fraction how
many lengths of his stick it would take to reach across the playground and
could draw almost perfect squares on his slate without any measurement But Mr
Stelling took no note of these things he only observed that Toms faculties
failed him before the abstractions hideously symbolised to him in the pages of
the Eton Grammar and that he was in a state bordering on idiocy with regard to
the demonstration that two given triangles must be equal though he could
discern with great promptitude and certainty the fact that they were equal
Whence Mr Stelling concluded that Toms brain being peculiarly impervious to
etymology and demonstrations was peculiarly in need of being ploughed and
harrowed by these patent implements it was his favourite metaphor that the
classics and geometry constituted that culture of the mind which prepared it for
the reception of any subsequent crop I say nothing against Mr Stellings
theory if we are to have one regimen for all minds his seems to me as good as
any other I only know it turned out as uncomfortably for Tom Tulliver as if he
had been plied with cheese in order to remedy a gastric weakness which prevented
him from digesting it It is astonishing what a different result one gets by
changing the metaphor Once call the brain an intellectual stomach and ones
ingenious conception of the classics and geometry as ploughs and harrows seems
to settle nothing But then it is open to some one else to follow great
authorities and call the mind a sheet of white paper or a mirror in which case
ones knowledge of the digestive process becomes quite irrelevant It was
doubtless an ingenious idea to call the camel the ship of the desert but it
would hardly lead one far in training that useful beast O Aristotle if you had
had the advantage of being »the freshest modern« instead of the greatest
ancient would you not have mingled your praise of metaphorical speech as a
sign of high intelligence with a lamentation that intelligence so rarely shows
itself in speech without metaphor that we can so seldom declare what a thing
is except by saying it is something else
Tom Tulliver being abundant in no form of speech did not use any metaphor
to declare his views as to the nature of Latin he never called it an instrument
of torture and it was not until he had got on some way in the next halfyear
and in the Delectus that he was advanced enough to call it a »bore« and
»beastly stuff« At present in relation to this demand that he should learn
Latin declensions and conjugations Tom was in a state of as blank
unimaginativeness concerning the cause and tendency of his sufferings as if he
had been an innocent shrewmouse imprisoned in the split trunk of an ashtree in
order to cure lameness in cattle It is doubtless almost incredible to
instructed minds of the present day that a boy of twelve not belonging strictly
to »the masses« who are now understood to have the monopoly of mental darkness
should have had no distinct idea how there came to be such a thing as Latin on
this earth yet so it was with Tom It would have taken a long while to make
conceivable to him that there ever existed a people who bought and sold sheep
and oxen and transacted the everyday affairs of life through the medium of
this language and still longer to make him understand why he should be called
upon to learn it when its connection with those affairs had become entirely
latent So far as Tom had gained any acquaintance with the Romans at Mr Jacobs
academy his knowledge was strictly correct but it went no farther than the
fact that they were »in the New Testament« and Mr Stelling was not the man to
enfeeble and emasculate his pupils mind by simplifying and explaining or to
reduce the tonic effect of etymology by mixing it with smattering extraneous
information such as is given to girls
Yet strange to say under this vigorous treatment Tom became more like a
girl than he had ever been in his life before He had a large share of pride
which had hitherto found itself very comfortable in the world despising old
Goggles and reposing in the sense of unquestioned rights but now this same
pride met with nothing but bruises and crushings Tom was too clearsighted not
to be aware that Mr Stellings standard of things was quite different was
certainly something higher in the eyes of the world than that of the people he
had been living amongst and that brought in contact with it he Tom Tulliver
appeared uncouth and stupid he was by no means indifferent to this and his
pride got into an uneasy condition which quite nullified his boyish
selfsatisfaction and gave him something of the girls susceptibility He was
of a very firm not to say obstinate disposition but there was no brutelike
rebellion and recklessness in his nature the human sensibilities predominated
and if it had occurred to him that he could enable himself to show some
quickness at his lessons and so acquire Mr Stellings approbation by standing
on one leg for an inconvenient length of time or rapping his head moderately
against the wall or any voluntary action of that sort he would certainly have
tried it But no Tom had never heard that these measures would brighten the
understanding or strengthen the verbal memory and he was not given to
hypothesis and experiment It did occur to him that he could perhaps get some
help by praying for it but as the prayers he said every evening were forms
learned by heart he rather shrank from the novelty and irregularity of
introducing an extempore passage on a topic of petition for which he was not
aware of any precedent But one day when he had broken down for the fifth time
in the supines of the third conjugation and Mr Stelling convinced that this
must be carelessness since it transcended the bounds of possible stupidity had
lectured him very seriously pointing out that if he failed to seize the present
golden opportunity of learning supines he would have to regret it when he
became a man Tom more miserable than usual determined to try his sole
resource and that evening after his usual form of prayer for his parents and
»little sister« he had begun to pray for Maggie when she was a baby and that
he might be able always to keep Gods commandments he added in the same low
whisper »and please to make me always remember my Latin« He paused a little to
consider how he should pray about Euclid whether he should ask to see what it
meant or whether there was any other mental state which would be more
applicable to the case But at last he added »And make Mr Stelling say I
shant do Euclid any more Amen«
The fact that he got through his supines without mistake the next day
encouraged him to persevere in this appendix to his prayers and neutralised any
scepticism that might have arisen from Mr Stellings continued demand for
Euclid But his faith broke down under the apparent absence of all help when he
got into the irregular verbs It seemed clear that Toms despair under the
caprices of the present tense did not constitute a nodus worthy of interference
and since this was the climax of his difficulties where was the use of praying
for help any longer He made up his mind to this conclusion in one of his dull
lonely evenings which he spent in the study preparing his lessons for the
morrow His eyes were apt to get dim over the page though he hated crying and
was ashamed of it he couldnt help thinking with some affection even of
Spouncer whom he used to fight and quarrel with he would have felt at home
with Spouncer and in a condition of superiority And then the mill and the
river and Yap pricking up his ears ready to obey the least sign when Tom said
»Hoigh« would all come before him in a sort of calenture when his fingers
played absently in his pocket with his great knife and his coil of whipcord
and other relics of the past Tom as I said had never been so much like a girl
in his life before and at that epoch of irregular verbs his spirit was further
depressed by a new means of mental development which had been thought of for
him out of school hours Mrs Stelling had lately had her second baby and as
nothing could be more salutary for a boy than to feel himself useful Mrs
Stelling considered she was doing Tom a service by setting him to watch the
little cherub Laura while the nurse was occupied with the sickly baby It was
quite a pretty employment for Tom to take little Laura out in the sunniest hour
of the autumn day it would help to make him feel that Lorton Parsonage was a
home for him and that he was one of the family The little cherub Laura not
being an accomplished walker at present had a ribbon fastened round her waist
by which Tom held her as if she had been a little dog during the minutes in
which she chose to walk but as these were rare he was for the most part
carrying this fine child round and round the garden within sight of Mrs
Stellings window according to orders If any one considers this unfair and
even oppressive towards Tom I beg him to consider that there are feminine
virtues which are with difficulty combined even if they are not incompatible
When the wife of a poor curate contrives under all her disadvantages to dress
extremely well and to have a style of coiffure which requires that her nurse
shall occasionally officiate as ladysmaid when moreover her
dinnerparties and her drawingroom show that effort at elegance and
completeness of appointment to which ordinary women might imagine a large income
necessary it would be unreasonable to expect of her that she should employ a
second nurse or even act as a nurse herself Mr Stelling knew better he saw
that his wife did wonders already and was proud of her it was certainly not
the best thing in the world for young Tullivers gait to carry a heavy child
but he had plenty of exercise in long walks with himself and next halfyear Mr
Stelling would see about having a drillingmaster Among the many means whereby
Mr Stelling intended to be more fortunate than the bulk of his fellowmen he
had entirely given up that of having his own way in his own house What then he
had married »as kind a little soul as ever breathed« according to Mr Riley
who had been acquainted with Mrs Stellings blond ringlets and smiling
demeanour throughout her maiden life and on the strength of that knowledge
would have been ready any day to pronounce that whatever domestic differences
might arise in her married life must be entirely Mr Stellings fault
If Tom had had a worse disposition he would certainly have hated the little
cherub Laura but he was too kindhearted a lad for that there was too much in
him of the fibre that turns to true manliness and to protecting pity for the
weak I am afraid he hated Mrs Stelling and contracted a lasting dislike to
pale blond ringlets and broad plaits as directly associated with haughtiness of
manner and a frequent reference to other peoples »duty« But he couldnt help
playing with little Laura and liking to amuse her he even sacrificed his
percussioncaps for her sake in despair of their ever serving a greater purpose
thinking the small flash and bang would delight her and thereby drawing down
on himself a rebuke from Mrs Stelling for teaching her child to play with fire
Laura was a sort of playfellow and O how Tom longed for playfellows In his
secret heart he yearned to have Maggie with him and was almost ready to dote on
her exasperating acts of forgetfulness though when he was at home he always
represented it as a great favour on his part to let Maggie trot by his side on
his pleasure excursions
And before this dreary halfyear was ended Maggie actually came Mrs
Stelling had given a general invitation for the little girl to come and stay
with her brother so when Mr Tulliver drove over to Kings Lorton late in
October Maggie came too with the sense that she was taking a great journey
and beginning to see the world It was Mr Tullivers first visit to see Tom
for the lad must learn not to think too much about home
»Well my lad« he said to Tom when Mr Stelling had left the room to
announce the arrival to his wife and Maggie had begun to kiss Tom freely »you
look rarely School agrees with you«
Tom wished he had looked rather ill
»I dont think I am well father« said Tom »I wish youd ask Mr Stelling
not to let me do Euclid it brings on the toothache I think«
The toothache was the only malady to which Tom had ever been subject
»Euclid my lad why whats that« said Mr Tulliver
»O I dont know its definitions and axioms and triangles and things
Its a book Ive got to learn in theres no sense in it«
»Go go« said Mr Tulliver reprovingly »you mustnt say so You must
learn what your master tells you He knows what its right for you to learn«
»Ill help you now Tom« said Maggie with a little air of patronising
consolation »Im come to stay ever so long if Mrs Stelling asks me Ive
brought my box and my pinafores havent I father«
»You help me you silly little thing« said Tom in such high spirits at
this announcement that he quite enjoyed the idea of confounding Maggie by
showing her a page of Euclid »I should like to see you doing one of my lessons
Why I learn Latin too Girls never learn such things Theyre too silly«
»I know what Latin is very well« said Maggie confidently »Latins a
language There are Latin words in the Dictionary Theres bonus a gift«
»Now youre just wrong there Miss Maggie« said Tom secretly astonished
»You think youre very wise But bonus means good as it happens bonus bona
bonum«
»Well thats no reason why it shouldnt mean gift« said Maggie stoutly
»It may mean several things almost every word does Theres lawn it means
the grassplot as well as the stuff pockethandkerchiefs are made of«
»Well done little un« said Mr Tulliver laughing while Tom felt rather
disgusted with Maggies knowingness though beyond measure cheerful at the
thought that she was going to stay with him Her conceit would soon be overawed
by the actual inspection of his books
Mrs Stelling in her pressing invitation did not mention a longer time
than a week for Maggies stay but Mr Stelling who took her between his knees
and asked her where she stole her dark eyes from insisted that she must stay a
fortnight Maggie thought Mr Stelling was a charming man and Mr Tulliver was
quite proud to leave his little wench where she would have an opportunity of
showing her cleverness to appreciating strangers So it was agreed that she
should not be fetched home till the end of the fortnight
»Now then come with me into the study Maggie« said Tom as their father
drove away »What do you shake and toss your head now for you silly« he
continued for though her hair was now under a new dispensation and was brushed
smoothly behind her ears she seemed still in imagination to be tossing it out
of her eyes »It makes you look as if you were crazy«
»O I cant help it« said Maggie impatiently »Dont tease me Tom O
what books« she exclaimed as she saw the bookcases in the study »How I should
like to have as many books as that«
»Why you couldnt read one of em« said Tom triumphantly »Theyre all
Latin«
»No they arent« said Maggie »I can read the back of this History of
the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire«
»Well what does that mean You dont know« said Tom wagging his head
»But I could soon find out« said Maggie scornfully
»Why how«
»I should look inside and see what it was about«
»Youd better not Miss Maggie« said Tom seeing her hand on the volume
»Mr Stelling lets nobody touch his books without leave and I shall catch it
if you take it out«
»O very well Let me see all your books then« said Maggie turning to
throw her arms round Toms neck and rub his cheek with her small round nose
Tom in the gladness of his heart at having dear old Maggie to dispute with
and crow over again seized her round the waist and began to jump with her
round the large library table Away they jumped with more and more vigour till
Maggies hair flew from behind her ears and twirled about like an animated mop
But the revolutions round the table became more and more irregular in their
sweep till at last reaching Mr Stellings readingstand they sent it
thundering down with its heavy lexicons to the floor Happily it was the
groundfloor and the study was a onestoried wing to the house so that the
downfall made no alarming resonance though Tom stood dizzy and aghast for a few
minutes dreading the appearance of Mr or Mrs Stelling
»O I say Maggie« said Tom at last lifting up the stand »we must keep
quiet here you know If we break anything Mrs Stelling ll make us cry
peccavi«
»Whats that« said Maggie
»O its the Latin for a good scolding« said Tom not without some pride in
his knowledge
»Is she a cross woman« said Maggie
»I believe you« said Tom with an emphatic nod
»I think all women are crosser than men« said Maggie »Aunt Gleggs a great
deal crosser that Uncle Glegg and mother scolds me more than father does«
»Well youll be a woman some day« said Tom »so you neednt talk«
»But I shall be a clever woman« said Maggie with a toss
»O I daresay and a nasty conceited thing Everybody ll hate you«
»But you oughtnt to hate me Tom itll be very wicked of you for I shall
be your sister«
»Yes but if youre a nasty disagreeable thing I shall hate you«
»O but Tom you wont I shant be disagreeable I shall be very good to
you and I shall be good to everybody You wont hate me really will you
Tom«
»O bother never mind Come its time for me to learn my lessons See
here what Ive got to do« said Tom drawing Maggie towards him and showing her
his theorem while she pushed her hair behind her ears and prepared herself to
prove her capability of helping him in Euclid She began to read with full
confidence in her own powers but presently becoming quite bewildered her face
flushed with irritation It was unavoidable she must confess her incompetency
and she was not fond of humiliation
»Its nonsense« she said »and very ugly stuff nobody need want to make
it out«
»Ah there now Miss Maggie« said Tom drawing the book away and wagging
his head at her »you see youre not so clever as you thought you were«
»O« said Maggie pouting »I daresay I could make it out if Id learned
what goes before as you have«
»But thats what you just couldnt Miss Wisdom« said Tom »For its all
the harder when you know what goes before for then youve got to say what
definition 3 is and what axiom V is But get along with you now I must go on
with this Heres the Latin Grammar See what you can make of that«
Maggie found the Latin Grammar quite soothing after her mathematical
mortification for she delighted in new words and quickly found that there was
an English Key at the end which would make her very wise about Latin at slight
expense She presently made up her mind to skip the rules in the Syntax the
examples became so absorbing These mysterious sentences snatched from an
unknown context like strange horns of beasts and leaves of unknown plants
brought from some faroff region gave boundless scope to her imagination and
were all the more fascinating because they were in a peculiar tongue of their
own which she could learn to interpret It was really very interesting the
Latin Grammar that Tom had said no girls could learn and she was proud because
she found it interesting The most fragmentary examples were her favourites
Mors omnibus est communis would have been jejune only she liked to know the
Latin but the fortunate gentleman whom every one congratulated because he had a
son »endowed with such a disposition« afforded her a great deal of pleasant
conjecture and she was quite lost in the »thick grove penetrable by no star«
when Tom called out
»Now then Magsie give us the Grammar«
»O Tom its such a pretty book« she said as she jumped out of the large
armchair to give it him »its much prettier than the Dictionary I could learn
Latin very soon I dont think its at all hard«
»O I know what youve been doing« said Tom »youve been reading the
English at the end Any donkey can do that«
Tom seized the book and opened it with a determined and businesslike air
as much as to say that he had a lesson to learn which no donkeys would find
themselves equal to Maggie rather piqued turned to the bookcases to amuse
herself with puzzling out the titles
Presently Tom called to her »Here Magsie come and hear if I can say this
Stand at that end of the table where Mr Stelling sits when he hears me«
Maggie obeyed and took the open book
»Where do you begin Tom«
»O I begin at Appellativa arborum because I say all over again what Ive
been learning this week«
Tom sailed along pretty well for three lines and Maggie was beginning to
forget her office of prompter in speculating as to what mas could mean which
came twice over when he stuck fast at Sunt etiam volucrum
»Dont tell me Maggie Sunt etiam volucrum Sunt etiam volucrum ut
ostrea cetus «
»No« said Maggie opening her mouth and shaking her head
»Sunt etiam volucrum« said Tom very slowly as if the next words might be
expected to come sooner when he gave them this strong hint that they were waited
for
»C e u« said Maggie getting impatient
»O I know hold your tongue« said Tom »Ceu passer hirundo Ferarum
ferarum « Tom took his pencil and made several hard dots with it on his
bookcover »ferarum «
»O dear O dear Tom« said Maggie »what a time you are Ut «
»Ut ostrea «
»No no« said Maggie »ut tigris «
»O yes now I can do« said Tom »it was tigris vulpes Id forgotten ut
tigris vulpes et Piscium«
With some further stammering and repetition Tom got through the next few
lines
»Now then« he said »the next is what Ive just learnt for tomorrow Give
me hold of the book a minute«
After some whispered gabbling assisted by the beating of his fist on the
table Tom returned the book
»Mascula nomina in a« he began
»No Tom« said Maggie »that doesnt come next Its Nomen non creskens
enittivo «
»Creskens genittivo« exclaimed Tom with a derisive laugh for Tom had
learned this omitted passage for his yesterdays lesson and a young gentleman
does not require an intimate or extensive acquaintance with Latin before he can
feel the pitiable absurdity of a false quantity »Creskens genittivo What a
little silly you are Maggie«
»Well you neednt laugh Tom for you didnt remember it at all Im sure
its spelt so how was I to know«
»Pheeeeh I told you girls couldnt learn Latin Its Nomen non crescens
genitivo«
»Very well then« said Maggie pouting »I can say that as well as you can
And you dont mind your stops For you ought to stop twice as long at a
semicolon as you do at a comma and you make the longest stops where there ought
to be no stop at all«
»O well dont chatter Let me go on«
They were presently fetched to spend the rest of the evening in the
drawingroom and Maggie became so animated with Mr Stelling who she felt
sure admired her cleverness that Tom was rather amazed and alarmed at her
audacity But she was suddenly subdued by Mr Stellings alluding to a little
girl of whom he had heard that she once ran away to the gypsies
»What a very odd little girl that must be« said Mrs Stelling meaning to
be playful but a playfulness that turned on her supposed oddity was not at all
to Maggies taste She feared that Mr Stelling after all did not think much
of her and went to bed in rather low spirits Mrs Stelling she felt looked
at her as if she thought her hair was very ugly because it hung down straight
behind
Nevertheless it was a very happy fortnight to Maggie this visit to Tom She
was allowed to be in the study while he had his lessons and in her various
readings got very deep into the examples in the Latin Grammar The astronomer
who hated women generally caused her so much puzzling speculation that she one
day asked Mr Stelling if all astronomers hated women or whether it was only
this particular astronomer But forestalling his answer she said
»I suppose its all astronomers because you know they live up in high
towers and if the women came there they might talk and hinder them from
looking at the stars«
Mr Stelling liked her prattle immensely and they were on the best terms
She told Tom she should like to go to school to Mr Stelling as he did and
learn just the same things She knew she could do Euclid for she had looked
into it again and she saw what A B C meant they were the names of the lines
»Im sure you couldnt do it now« said Tom »and Ill just ask Mr
Stelling if you could«
»I dont mind« said the little conceited minx »Ill ask him myself«
»Mr Stelling« she said that same evening when they were in the
drawingroom »couldnt I do Euclid and all Toms lessons if you were to teach
me instead of him«
»No you couldnt« said Tom indignantly »Girls cant do Euclid can they
sir«
»They can pick up a little of everything I daresay« said Mr Stelling
»Theyve a great deal of superficial cleverness but they couldnt go far into
anything Theyre quick and shallow«
Tom delighted with this verdict telegraphed his triumph by wagging his
head at Maggie behind Mr Stellings chair As for Maggie she had hardly ever
been so mortified She had been so proud to be called »quick« all her little
life and now it appeared that this quickness was the brand of inferiority It
would have been better to be slow like Tom
»Ha ha Miss Maggie« said Tom when they were alone »you see its not
such a fine thing to be quick Youll never go far into anything you know«
And Maggie was so oppressed by this dreadful destiny that she had no spirit
for a retort
But when this small apparatus of shallow quickness was fetched away in the
gig by Luke and the study was once more quite lonely for Tom he missed her
grievously He had really been brighter and had got through his lessons better
since she had been there and she had asked Mr Stelling so many questions about
the Roman empire and whether there really ever was a man who said in Latin »I
would not buy it for a farthing or a rotten nut« or whether that had only been
turned into Latin that Tom had actually come to a dim understanding of the fact
that there had once been people upon the earth who were so fortunate as to know
Latin without learning it through the medium of the Eton Grammar This luminous
idea was a great addition to his historical acquirements during this halfyear
which were otherwise confined to an epitomised history of the Jews
But the dreary halfyear did come to an end How glad Tom was to see the
last yellow leaves fluttering before the cold wind The dark afternoons and the
first December snow seemed to him far livelier than the August sunshine and
that he might make himself the surer about the flight of the days that were
carrying him homeward he stuck twentyone sticks deep in a corner of the
garden when he was three weeks from the holidays and pulled one up every day
with a great wrench throwing it to a distance with a vigour of will which would
have carried it to limbo if it had been in the nature of sticks to travel so
far
But it was worth purchasing even at the heavy price of the Latin Grammar
the happiness of seeing the bright light in the parlour at home as the gig
passed noiselessly over the snowcovered bridge the happiness of passing from
the cold air to the warmth and the kisses and the smiles of that familiar
hearth where the pattern of the rug and the grate and the fireirons were
»first ideas« that it was no more possible to criticise than the solidity and
extension of matter There is no sense of ease like the ease we felt in those
scenes where we were born where objects became dear to us before we had known
the labour of choice and where the outer world seemed only an extension of our
own personality we accepted and loved it as we accepted our own sense of
existence and our own limbs Very commonplace even ugly that furniture of our
early home might look if it were put up to auction an improved taste in
upholstery scorns it and is not the striving after something better and better
in our surroundings the grand characteristic that distinguishes man from the
brute or to satisfy a scrupulous accuracy of definition that distinguishes
the British man from the foreign brute But heaven knows where that striving
might lead us if our affections had not a trick of twining round those old
inferior things if the loves and sanctities of our life had no deep immovable
roots in memory Ones delight in an elderberry bush overhanging the confused
leafage of a hedgerow bank as a more gladdening sight than the finest cistus or
fuchsia spreading itself on the softest undulating turf is an entirely
unjustifiable preference to a nurserygardener or to any of those severely
regulated minds who are free from the weakness of any attachment that does not
rest on a demonstrable superiority of qualities And there is no better reason
for preferring this elderberry bush than that it stirs an early memory that it
is no novelty in my life speaking to me merely through my present sensibilities
to form and colour but the long companion of my existence that wove itself
into my joys when joys were vivid
Chapter II
The Christmas Holidays
Fine old Christmas with the snowy hair and ruddy face had done his duty that
year in the noblest fashion and had set off his rich gifts of warmth and colour
with all the heightening contrast of frost and snow
Snow lay on the croft and riverbank in undulations softer than the limbs of
infancy it lay with the neatliest finished border on every sloping roof making
the darkred gables stand out with a new depth of colour it weighed heavily on
the laurels and firtrees till it fell from them with a shuddering sound it
clothed the rough turnipfield with whiteness and made the sheep look like dark
blotches the gates were all blocked up with the sloping drifts and here and
there a disregarded fourfooted beast stood as if petrified »in unrecumbent
sadness« there was no gleam no shadow for the heavens too were one still
pale cloud no sound or motion in anything but the dark river that flowed and
moaned like an unresting sorrow But old Christmas smiled as he laid this
cruelseeming spell on the outdoor world for he meant to light up home with
new brightness to deepen all the richness of indoor colour and give a keener
edge of delight to the warm fragrance of food he meant to prepare a sweet
imprisonment that would strengthen the primitive fellowship of kindred and make
the sunshine of familiar human faces as welcome as the hidden daystar His
kindness fell but hardly on the homeless fell but hardly on the homes where
the hearth was not very warm and where the food had little fragrance where the
human faces had no sunshine in them but rather the leaden blankeyed gaze of
unexpectant want But the fine old season meant well and if he has not learnt
the secret how to bless men impartially it is because his father Time with
everunrelenting purpose still hides that secret in his own mighty
slowbeating heart
And yet this Christmas day in spite of Toms fresh delight in home was
not he thought somehow or other quite so happy as it had always been before
The red berries were just as abundant on the holly and he and Maggie had
dressed all the windows and mantelpieces and pictureframes on Christmas eve
with as much taste as ever wedding the thickset scarlet clusters with branches
of the blackberried ivy There had been singing under the windows after
midnight supernatural singing Maggie always felt in spite of Toms
contemptuous insistence that the singers were old Patch the parish clerk and
the rest of the church choir she trembled with awe when their caroling broke in
upon her dreams and the image of men in fustian clothes was always thrust away
by the vision of angels resting on the parted cloud The midnight chant had
helped as usual to lift the morning above the level of common days and then
there was the smell of hot toast and ale from the kitchen at the breakfast
hour the favourite anthem the green boughs and the short sermon gave the
appropriate festal character to the churchgoing and aunt and uncle Moss with
all their seven children were looking like so many reflectors of the bright
parlourfire when the churchgoers came back stamping the snow from their
feet The plumpudding was of the same handsome roundness as ever and came in
with the symbolic blue flames around it as if it had been heroically snatched
from the nether fires into which it had been thrown by dyspeptic Puritans the
dessert was as splendid as ever with its golden oranges brown nuts and the
crystalline light and dark of apple jelly and damson cheese in all these things
Christmas was as it had always been since Tom could remember it was only
distinguished if by anything by superior sliding and snowballs
Christmas was cheery but not so Mr Tulliver He was irate and defiant and
Tom though he espoused his fathers quarrels and shared his fathers sense of
injury was not without some of the feeling that oppressed Maggie when Mr
Tulliver got louder and more angry in narration and assertion with the increased
leisure of dessert The attention that Tom might have concentrated on his nuts
and wine was distracted by a sense that there were rascally enemies in the
world and that the business of grownup life could hardly be conducted without
a good deal of quarrelling Now Tom was not fond of quarrelling unless it could
soon be put an end to by a fair standup fight with an adversary whom he had
every chance of thrashing and his fathers irritable talk made him
uncomfortable though he never accounted to himself for the feeling or
conceived the notion that his father was faulty in this respect
The particular embodiment of the evil principle now exciting Mr Tullivers
determined resistance was Mr Pivart who having lands higher up the Ripple
was taking measures for their irrigation which either were or would be or
were bound to be on the principle that water was water an infringement on Mr
Tullivers legitimate share of waterpower Dix who had a mill on the stream
was a feeble auxiliary of Old Harry compared with Pivart Dix had been brought
to his senses by arbitration and Wakems advice had not carried him far no
Dix Mr Tulliver considered had been as good as nowhere in point of law and
in the intensity of his indignation against Pivart his contempt for a baffled
adversary like Dix began to wear the air of a friendly attachment He had no
male audience today except Mr Moss who knew nothing as he said of the
»natur o mills« and could only assent to Mr Tullivers arguments on the a
priori ground of family relationship and monetary obligation but Mr Tulliver
did not talk with the futile intention of convincing his audience he talked to
relieve himself while good Mr Moss made strong efforts to keep his eyes wide
open in spite of the sleepiness which an unusually good dinner produced in his
hardworked frame Mrs Moss more alive to the subject and interested in
everything that affected her brother listened and put in a word as often as
maternal preoccupations allowed
»Why Pivarts a new name hereabout brother isnt it« she said »he
didnt own the land in fathers time nor yours either before I was married«
»New name Yes I should think it is a new name« said Mr Tulliver with
angry emphasis »Dorlcote Mills been in our family a hundred year and better
and nobody ever heard of a Pivart meddling with the river till this fellow came
and bought Bincomes farm out of hand before anybody else could so much as say
snap But Ill Pivart him« added Mr Tulliver lifting his glass with a sense
that he had defined his resolution in an unmistakeable manner
»You wont be forced to go to law with him I hope brother« said Mrs
Moss with some anxiety
»I dont know what I shall be forced to but I know what I shall force him
to with his dykes and erigations if theres any law to be brought to bear o
the right side I know well enough whos at the bottom of it hes got Wakem to
back him and egg him on I know Wakem tells him the law cant touch him for it
but theres folks can handle the law besides Wakem It takes a big raskil to
beat him but theres bigger to be found as know more o th ins and outs o
the law else how came Wakem to lose Brumleys suit for him«
Mr Tulliver was a strictly honest man and proud of being honest but he
considered that in law the ends of justice could only be achieved by employing a
stronger knave to frustrate a weaker Law was a sort of cockfight in which it
was the business of injured honesty to get a game bird with the best pluck and
the strongest spurs
»Gores no fool you neednt tell me that« he observed presently in a
pugnacious tone as if poor Gritty had been urging that lawyers capabilities
»but you see he isnt up to the law as Wakem is And waters a very particular
thing you cant pick it up with a pitchfork Thats why its been nuts to Old
Harry and the lawyers Its plain enough whats the rights and the wrongs of
water if you look at it straightforrard for a rivers a river and if youve
got a mill you must have water to turn it and its no use telling me Pivarts
erigation and nonsense wont stop my wheel I know what belongs to water better
than that Talk to me o what th engineers say I say its common sense as
Pivarts dykes must do me an injury But if thats their engineering Ill put
Tom to it byandby and he shall see if he cant find a bit more sense in th
engineering business than what that comes to«
Tom looking round with some anxiety at this announcement of his prospects
unthinkingly withdrew a small rattle he was amusing Baby Moss with whereupon
she being a baby that knew her own mind with remarkable clearness
instantaneously expressed her sentiments in a piercing yell and was not to be
appeased even by the restoration of the rattle feeling apparently that the
original wrong of having it taken from her remained in all its force Mrs Moss
hurried away with her into another room and expressed to Mrs Tulliver who
accompanied her the conviction that the dear child had good reasons for crying
implying that if it was supposed to be the rattle that baby clamoured for she
was a misunderstood baby The thoroughly justifiable yell being quieted Mrs
Moss looked at her sisterinlaw and said
»Im sorry to see brother so put out about this water work«
»Its your brothers way Mrs Moss Id never anything o that sort before
I was married« said Mrs Tulliver with a halfimplied reproach She always
spoke of her husband as »your brother« to Mrs Moss in any case when his line of
conduct was not matter of pure admiration Amiable Mrs Tulliver who was never
angry in her life had yet her mild share of that spirit without which she could
hardly have been at once a Dodson and a woman Being always on the defensive
towards her own sisters it was natural that she should be keenly conscious of
her superiority even as the weakest Dodson over a husbands sister who
besides being poorly off and inclined to »hang on« her brother had the
goodnatured submissiveness of a large easytempered untidy prolific woman
with affection enough in her not only for her own husband and abundant children
but for any number of collateral relations
»I hope and pray he wont go to law« said Mrs Moss »for theres never any
knowing where thatll end And the right doesnt allays win This Mr Pivarts a
rich man by what I can make out and the rich mostly get things their own way«
»As to that« said Mrs Tulliver stroking her dress down »Ive seen what
riches are in my own family for my sisters have got husbands as can afford to
do pretty much what they like But I think sometimes I shall be drove off my
head with the talk about this law and erigation and my sisters lay all the
fault to me for they dont know what it is to marry a man like your brother
how should they Sister Pullet has her own way from morning till night«
»Well« said Mrs Moss »I dont think I should like my husband if he hadnt
got any wits of his own and I had to find headpiece for him Its a deal
easier to do what pleases ones husband than to be puzzling what else one
should do«
»If people come to talk o doing what pleases their husbands« said Mrs
Tulliver with a faint imitation of her sister Glegg »Im sure your brother
might have waited a long while before hed have found a wife that ud have let
him have his say in everything as I do Its nothing but law and erigation now
from when we first get up in the morning till we go to bed at night and I never
contradict him I only say Well Mr Tulliver do as you like but whativer
you do dont go to law«
Mrs Tulliver as we have seen was not without influence over her husband
No woman is she can always incline him to do either what she wishes or the
reverse and on the composite impulses that were threatening to hurry Mr
Tulliver into »law« Mrs Tullivers monotonous pleading had doubtless its share
of force it might even be comparable to that proverbial feather which has the
credit or discredit of breaking the camels back though on a strictly
impartial view the blame ought rather to lie with the previous weight of
feathers which had already placed the back in such imminent peril that an
otherwise innocent feather could not settle on it without mischief Not that
Mrs Tullivers feeble beseeching could have had this feathers weight in virtue
of her single personality but whenever she departed from entire assent to her
husband he saw in her the representative of the Dodson family and it was a
guiding principle with Mr Tulliver to let the Dodsons know that they were not
to domineer over him or more specifically that a male Tulliver was far more
than equal to four female Dodsons even though one of them was Mrs Glegg
But not even a direct argument from that typical Dodson female herself
against his going to law could have heightened his disposition towards it so
much as the mere thought of Wakem continually freshened by the sight of the too
able attorney on marketdays Wakem to his certain knowledge was
metaphorically speaking at the bottom of Pivarts irrigation Wakem had tried
to make Dix stand out and go to law about the dam it was unquestionably Wakem
who had caused Mr Tulliver to lose the suit about the right of road and the
bridge that made a thoroughfare of his land for every vagabond who preferred an
opportunity of damaging private property to walking like an honest man along the
highroad all lawyers were more or less rascals but Wakems rascality was of
that peculiarly aggravated kind which placed itself in opposition to that form
of right embodied in Mr Tullivers interests and opinions And as an extra
touch of bitterness the injured miller had recently in borrowing the five
hundred pounds been obliged to carry a little business to Wakems office on his
own account A hooknosed glib fellow as cool as a cucumber always looking so
sure of his game And it was vexatious that Lawyer Gore was not more like him
but was a bald roundfeatured man with bland manners and fat hands a
gamecock that you would be rash to bet upon against Wakem Gore was a sly
fellow his weakness did not lie on the side of scrupulosity but the largest
amount of winking however significant is not equivalent to seeing through a
stone wall and confident as Mr Tulliver was in his principle that water was
water and in the direct inference that Pivart had not a leg to stand on in this
affair of irrigation he had an uncomfortable suspicion that Wakem had more law
to show against this rationally irrefragable inference than Gore could show
for it But then if they went to law there was a chance for Mr Tulliver to
employ Counsellor Wylde on his side instead of having that admirable bully
against him and the prospect of seeing a witness of Wakems made to perspire
and become confounded as Mr Tullivers witness had once been was alluring to
the love of retributive justice
Much rumination had Mr Tulliver on these puzzling subjects during his rides
on the grey horse much turning of the head from side to side as the scales
dipped alternately but the probable result was still out of sight only to be
reached through much hot argument and iteration in domestic and social life
That initial stage of the dispute which consisted in the narration of the case
and the enforcement of Mr Tullivers views concerning it throughout the entire
circle of his connections would necessarily take time and at the beginning of
February when Tom was going to school again there were scarcely any new items
to be detected in his fathers statement of the case against Pivart or any more
specific indication of the measures he was bent on taking against that rash
contravener of the principle that water was water Iteration like friction is
likely to generate heat instead of progress and Mr Tullivers heat was
certainly more and more palpable If there had been no new evidence on any other
point there had been new evidence that Pivart was as »thick as mud« with Wakem
»Father« said Tom one evening near the end of the holidays »uncle Glegg
says Lawyer Wakem is going to send his son to Mr Stelling It isnt true what
they said about his going to be sent to France You wont like me to go to
school with Wakems son shall you«
»Its no matter for that my boy« said Mr Tulliver »dont you learn
anything bad of him thats all The lads a poor deformed creatur and takes
after his mother in the face I think there isnt much of his father in him
Its a sign Wakem thinks high o Mr Stelling as he sends his son to him and
Wakem knows meal from bran«
Mr Tulliver in his heart was rather proud of the fact that his son was to
have the same advantages as Wakems but Tom was not at all easy on the point
it would have been much clearer if the lawyers son had not been deformed for
then Tom would have had the prospect of pitching into him with all that freedom
which is derived from a high moral sanction
Chapter III
The New Schoolfellow
It was a cold wet January day on which Tom went back to school a day quite in
keeping with this severe phase of his destiny If he had not carried in his
pocket a parcel of sugarcandy and a small Dutch doll for little Laura there
would have been no ray of expected pleasure to enliven the general gloom But he
liked to think how Laura would put out her lips and her tiny hands for the bits
of sugarcandy and to give the greater keenness to these pleasures of
imagination he took out the parcel made a small hole in the paper and bit off
a crystal or two which had so solacing an effect under the confined prospect
and damp odours of the gigumbrella that he repeated the process more than once
on his way
»Well Tulliver were glad to see you again« said Mr Stelling heartily
»Take off your wrappings and come into the study till dinner Youll find a
bright fire there and a new companion«
Tom felt in an uncomfortable flutter as he took off his woollen comforter
and other wrappings He had seen Philip Wakem at St Oggs but had always turned
his eyes away from him as quickly as possible He would have disliked having a
deformed boy for his companion even if Philip had not been the son of a bad
man And Tom did not see how a bad mans son could be very good His own father
was a good man and he would readily have fought any one who said the contrary
He was in a state of mingled embarrassment and defiance as he followed Mr
Stelling to the study
»Here is a new companion for you to shake hands with Tulliver« said that
gentleman on entering the study »Master Philip Wakem I shall leave you to
make acquaintance by yourselves You already know something of each other I
imagine for you are neighbours at home«
Tom looked confused and awkward while Philip rose and glanced at him
timidly Tom did not like to go up and put out his hand and he was not prepared
to say »How do you do« on so short a notice
Mr Stelling wisely turned away and closed the door behind him boys
shyness only wears off in the absence of their elders
Philip was at once too proud and too timid to walk towards Tom He thought
or rather felt that Tom had an aversion to looking at him every one almost
disliked looking at him and his deformity was more conspicuous when he walked
So they remained without shaking hands or even speaking while Tom went to the
fire and warmed himself every now and then casting furtive glances at Philip
who seemed to be drawing absently first one object and then another on a piece
of paper he had before him He had seated himself again and as he drew was
thinking what he could say to Tom and trying to overcome his own repugnance to
making the first advances
Tom began to look oftener and longer at Philips face for he could see it
without noticing the hump and it was really not a disagreeable face very
oldlooking Tom thought He wondered how much older Philip was than himself An
anatomist even a mere physiognomist would have seen that the deformity of
Philips spine was not a congenital hump but the result of an accident in
infancy but you do not expect from Tom any acquaintance with such distinctions
to him Philip was simply a humpback He had a vague notion that the deformity
of Wakems son had some relation to the lawyers rascality of which he had so
often heard his father talk with hot emphasis and he felt too a halfadmitted
fear of him as probably a spiteful fellow who not being able to fight you had
cunning ways of doing you a mischief by the sly There was a humpbacked tailor
in the neighbourhood of Mr Jacobs academy who was considered a very unamiable
character and was much hooted after by publicspirited boys solely on the
ground of his unsatisfactory moral qualities so that Tom was not without a
basis of fact to go upon Still no face could be more unlike that ugly tailors
than this melancholy boys face the brown hair round it waved and curled at the
ends like a girls Tom thought that truly pitiable This Wakem was a pale puny
fellow and it was quite clear he would not be able to play at anything worth
speaking of but he handled his pencil in an enviable manner and was apparently
making one thing after another without any trouble What was he drawing Tom was
quite warm now and wanted something new to be going forward It was certainly
more agreeable to have an illnatured humpback as a companion than to stand
looking out of the study window at the rain and kicking his foot against the
washboard in solitude something would happen every day »a quarrel or
something« and Tom thought he should rather like to show Philip that he had
better not try his spiteful tricks on him He suddenly walked across the hearth
and looked over Philips paper
»Why thats a donkey with panniers and a spaniel and partridges in the
corn« he exclaimed his tongue being completely loosed by surprise and
admiration »O my buttons I wish I could draw like that Im to learn drawing
this half I wonder if I shall learn to make dogs and donkeys«
»O you can do them without learning« said Philip »I never learned
drawing«
»Never learned« said Tom in amazement »Why when I make dogs and horses
and those things the heads and the legs wont come right though I can see how
they ought to be very well I can make houses and all sorts of chimneys
chimneys going all down the wall and windows in the roof and all that But I
daresay I could do dogs and horses if I was to try more« he added reflecting
that Philip might falsely suppose that he was going to »knock under« if he were
too frank about the imperfection of his accomplishments
»O yes« said Philip »its very easy Youve only to look well at things
and draw them over and over again What you do wrong once you can alter the
next time«
»But havent you been taught anything« said Tom beginning to have a
puzzled suspicion that Philips crooked back might be the source of remarkable
faculties »I thought youd been to school a long while«
»Yes« said Philip smiling »Ive been taught Latin and Greek and
mathematics and writing and such things«
»O but I say you dont like Latin though do you« said Tom lowering
his voice confidentially
»Pretty well I dont care much about it« said Philip
»Ah but perhaps you havent got into the Propria quæ maribus« said Tom
nodding his head sideways as much as to say »that was the test it was easy
talking till you came to that«
Philip felt some bitter complacency in the promising stupidity of this
wellmade activelooking boy but made polite by his own extreme sensitiveness
as well as by his desire to conciliate he checked his inclination to laugh and
said quietly
»Ive done with the grammar I dont learn that any more«
»Then you wont have the same lessons as I shall« said Tom with a sense of
disappointment
»No but I daresay I can help you I shall be very glad to help you if I
can«
Tom did not say »Thank you« for he was quite absorbed in the thought that
Wakems son did not seem so spiteful a fellow as might have been expected
»I say« he said presently »do you love your father«
»Yes« said Philip colouring deeply »dont you love yours«
»O yes I only wanted to know« said Tom rather ashamed of himself now
he saw Philip colouring and looking uncomfortable He found much difficulty in
adjusting his attitude of mind towards the son of Lawyer Wakem and it had
occurred to him that if Philip disliked his father that fact might go some way
towards clearing up his perplexity
»Shall you learn drawing now« he said by way of changing the subject
»No« said Philip »My father wishes me to give all my time to other things
now«
»What Latin and Euclid and those things« said Tom
»Yes« said Philip who had left off using his pencil and was resting his
head on one hand while Tom was leaning forward on both elbows and looking with
increasing admiration at the dog and the donkey
»And you dont mind that« said Tom with strong curiosity
»No I like to know what everybody else knows I can study what I like
byandby«
»I cant think why anybody should learn Latin« said Tom »Its no good«
»Its part of the education of a gentleman« said Philip »All gentlemen
learn the same things«
»What do you think Sir John Crake the master of the harriers knows
Latin« said Tom who had often thought he should like to resemble Sir John
Crake
»He learnt it when he was a boy of course« said Philip »But I daresay
hes forgotten it«
»O well I can do that then« said Tom not with any epigrammatic
intention but with serious satisfaction at the idea that as far as Latin was
concerned there was no hindrance to his resembling Sir John Crake »Only youre
obliged to remember it while youre at school else youve got to learn ever so
many lines of Speaker Mr Stellings very particular did you know Hell have
you up ten times if you say nam for jam he wont let you go a letter wrong
I can tell you«
»O I dont mind« said Philip unable to choke a laugh »I can remember
things easily And there are some lessons Im very fond of Im very fond of
Greek history and everything about the Greeks I should like to have been a
Greek and fought the Persians and then have come home and have written
tragedies or else have been listened to by everybody for my wisdom like
Socrates and have died a grand death« Philip you perceive was not without a
wish to impress the wellmade barbarian with a sense of his mental superiority
»Why were the Greeks great fighters« said Tom who saw a vista in this
direction »Is there anything like David and Goliath and Samson in the Greek
history Those are the only bits I like in the history of the Jews«
»O there are very fine stories of that sort about the Greeks about the
heroes of early times who killed the wild beasts as Samson did And in the
Odyssey thats a beautiful poem theres a more wonderful giant than Goliath
Polypheme who had only one eye in the middle of his forehead and Ulysses a
little fellow but very wise and cunning got a redhot pinetree and stuck it
into this one eye and made him roar like a thousand bulls«
»O what fun« said Tom jumping away from the table and stamping first
with one leg and then the other »I say can you tell me all about those
stories Because I shant learn Greek you know Shall I« he added pausing
in his stamping with a sudden alarm lest the contrary might be possible »Does
every gentleman learn Greek Will Mr Stelling make me begin with it do you
think«
»No I should think not very likely not« said Philip »But you may read
those stories without knowing Greek Ive got them in English«
»O but I dont like reading Id sooner have you tell them me But only the
fighting ones you know My sister Maggie is always wanting to tell me stories
but theyre stupid things Girls stories always are Can you tell a good many
fighting stories«
»O yes« said Philip »lots of them besides the Greek stories I can tell
you about Richard CoeurdeLion and Saladin and about William Wallace and
Robert Bruce and James Douglas I know no end«
»Youre older than I am arent you« said Tom
»Why how old are you Im fifteen«
»Im only going in fourteen« said Tom »But I thrashed all the fellows at
Jacobs thats where I was before I came here And I beat em all at bandy and
climbing And I wish Mr Stelling would let us go fishing I could show you how
to fish You could fish couldnt you Its only standing and sitting still
you know«
Tom in his turn wished to make the balance dip in his favour This
hunchback must not suppose that his acquaintance with fighting stories put him
on a par with an actual fighting hero like Tom Tulliver Philip winced under
this allusion to his unfitness for active sports and he answered almost
peevishly
»I cant bear fishing I think people look like fools sitting watching a
line hour after hour or else throwing and throwing and catching nothing«
»Ah but you wouldnt say they looked like fools when they landed a big
pike I can tell you« said Tom who had never caught anything that was »big« in
his life but whose imagination was on the stretch with indignant zeal for the
honour of sport Wakems son it was plain had his disagreeable points and
must be kept in due check Happily for the harmony of this first interview they
were now called to dinner and Philip was not allowed to develop farther his
unsound views on the subject of fishing But Tom said to himself that was just
what he should have expected from a hunchback
Chapter IV
»The Young Idea«
The alternations of feeling in that first dialogue between Tom and Philip
continued to mark their intercourse even after many weeks of schoolboy intimacy
Tom never quite lost the feeling that Philip being the son of a »rascal« was
his natural enemy never thoroughly overcame his repulsion to Philips
deformity he was a boy who adhered tenaciously to impressions once received as
with all minds in which mere perception predominates over thought and emotion
the external remained to him rigidly what it was in the first instance But
then it was impossible not to like Philips company when he was in a good
humour he could help one so well in ones Latin exercises which Tom regarded
as a kind of puzzle that could only be found out by a lucky chance and he could
tell such wonderful fighting stories about Hal of the Wynd for example and
other heroes who were especial favourites with Tom because they laid about them
with heavy strokes He had small opinion of Saladin whose scimitar could cut a
cushion in two in an instant who wanted to cut cushions That was a stupid
story and he didnt care to hear it again But when Robert Bruce on the black
pony rose in his stirrups and lifting his good battleaxe cracked at once
the helmet and the skull of the toohasty knight at Bannockburn then Tom felt
all the exaltation of sympathy and if he had had a cocoanut at hand he would
have cracked it at once with the poker Philip in his happier moods indulged Tom
to the top of his bent heightening the crash and bang and fury of every fight
with all the artillery of epithets and similes at his command But he was not
always in a good humour or happy mood The slight spurt of peevish
susceptibility which had escaped him in their first interview was a symptom of
a perpetuallyrecurring mental ailment half of it nervous irritability half
of it the heartbitterness produced by the sense of his deformity In these fits
of susceptibility every glance seemed to him to be charged either with offensive
pity or with illrepressed disgust at the very least it was an indifferent
glance and Philip felt indifference as a child of the south feels the chill air
of a northern spring Poor Toms blundering patronage when they were out of
doors together would sometimes make him turn upon the wellmeaning lad quite
savagely and his eyes usually sad and quiet would flash with anything but
playful lightning No wonder Tom retained his suspicions of the humpback
But Philips selftaught skill in drawing was another link between them for
Tom found to his disgust that his new drawingmaster gave him no dogs and
donkeys to draw but brooks and rustic bridges and ruins all with a general
softness of blacklead surface indicating that nature if anything was rather
satiny and as Toms feeling for the picturesque in landscape was at present
quite latent it is not surprising that Mr Goodrichs productions seemed to him
an uninteresting form of art Mr Tulliver having a vague intention that Tom
should be put to some business which included the drawing out of plans and maps
had complained to Mr Riley when he saw him at Mudport that Tom seemed to be
learning nothing of that sort whereupon that obliging adviser had suggested
that Tom should have drawinglessons Mr Tulliver must not mind paying extra
for drawing let Tom be made a good draughtsman and he would be able to turn
his pencil to any purpose So it was ordered that Tom should have
drawinglessons and whom should Mr Stelling have selected as a master if not
Mr Goodrich who was considered quite at the head of his profession within a
circuit of twelve miles round Kings Lorton By which means Tom learned to make
an extremely fine point to his pencil and to represent landscape with a »broad
generality« which doubtless from a narrow tendency in his mind to details he
thought extremely dull
All this you remember happened in those dark ages when there were no
schools of design before schoolmasters were invariably men of scrupulous
integrity and before the clergy were all men of enlarged minds and varied
culture In those lessfavoured days it is no fable that there were other
clergymen besides Mr Stelling who had narrow intellects and large wants and
whose income by a logical confusion to which Fortune being a female as well as
blindfold is peculiarly liable was proportioned not to their wants but to
their intellect with which income has clearly no inherent relation The
problem these gentlemen had to solve was to readjust the proportion between
their wants and their income and since wants are not easily starved to death
the simpler method appeared to be to raise their income There was but one way
of doing this any of those low callings in which men are obliged to do good
work at a low price were forbidden to clergymen was it their fault if their
only resource was to turn out very poor work at a high price Besides how
should Mr Stelling be expected to know that education was a delicate and
difficult business any more than an animal endowed with a power of boring a
hole through a rock should be expected to have wide views of excavation Mr
Stellings faculties had been early trained to boring in a straight line and he
had no faculty to spare But among Toms contemporaries whose fathers cast
their sons on clerical instruction to find them ignorant after many days there
were many far less lucky than Tom Tulliver Education was almost entirely a
matter of luck usually of illluck in those distant days The state of mind
in which you take a billiardcue or a dicebox in your hand is one of sober
certainty compared with that of oldfashioned fathers like Mr Tulliver when
they selected a school or a tutor for their sons Excellent men who had been
forced all their lives to spell on an impromptuphonetic system and having
carried on a successful business in spite of this disadvantage had acquired
money enough to give their sons a better start in life than they had had
themselves must necessarily take their chance as to the conscience and the
competence of the schoolmaster whose circular fell in their way and appeared to
promise so much more than they would ever have thought of asking for including
the return of linen fork and spoon It was happy for them if some ambitious
draper of their acquaintance had not brought up his son to the Church and if
that young gentleman at the age of fourandtwenty had not closed his college
dissipations by an imprudent marriage otherwise these innocent fathers
desirous of doing the best for their offspring could only escape the drapers
son by happening to be on the foundation of a grammarschool as yet unvisited by
commissioners where two or three boys could have all to themselves the
advantages of a large and lofty building together with a head master
toothless dimeyed and deaf whose erudite indistinctness and inattention were
engrossed by them at the rate of three hundred pounds ahead a ripe scholar
doubtless when first appointed but all ripeness beneath the sun has a further
stage less esteemed in the market
Tom Tulliver then compared with many other British youths of his time who
have since had to scramble through life with some fragments of more or less
relevant knowledge and a great deal of strictly relevant ignorance was not so
very unlucky Mr Stelling was a broadchested healthy man with the bearing of
a gentleman a conviction that a growing boy required a sufficiency of beef and
a certain hearty kindness in him that made him like to see Tom looking well and
enjoying his dinner not a man of refined conscience or with any deep sense of
the infinite issues belonging to everyday duties not quite competent to his
high offices but incompetent gentlemen must live and without private fortune
it is difficult to see how they could all live genteelly if they had nothing to
do with education or government Besides it was the fault of Toms mental
constitution that his faculties could not be nourished on the sort of knowledge
Mr Stelling had to communicate A boy born with a deficient power of
apprehending signs and abstractions must suffer the penalty of his congenital
deficiency just as if he had been born with one leg shorter than the other A
method of education sanctioned by the long practice of our venerable ancestors
was not to give way before the exceptional dulness of a boy who was merely
living at the time then present And Mr Stelling was convinced that a boy so
stupid at signs and abstractions must be stupid at everything else even if that
reverend gentleman could have taught him everything else It was the practice of
our venerable ancestors to apply that ingenious instrument the thumbscrew and
to tighten and tighten it in order to elicit nonexistent facts they had a
fixed opinion to begin with that the facts were existent and what had they to
do but to tighten the thumbscrew In like manner Mr Stelling had a fixed
opinion that all boys with any capacity could learn what it was the only regular
thing to teach if they were slow the thumbscrew must be tightened the
exercises must be insisted on with increased severity and a page of Virgil be
awarded as a penalty to encourage and stimulate a too languid inclination to
Latin verse
The thumbscrew was a little relaxed however during this second halfyear
Philip was so advanced in his studies and so apt that Mr Stelling could
obtain credit by his facility which required little help much more easily than
by the troublesome process of overcoming Toms dulness Gentlemen with broad
chests and ambitious intentions do sometimes disappoint their friends by failing
to carry the world before them Perhaps it is that high achievements demand
some other unusual qualification besides an unusual desire for high prizes
perhaps it is that these stalwart gentlemen are rather indolent their divinæ
particulum auræ being obstructed from soaring by a too hearty appetite Some
reason or other there was why Mr Stelling deferred the execution of many
spirited projects why he did not begin the editing of his Greek play or any
other work of scholarship in his leisure hours but after turning the key of
his private study with much resolution sat down to one of Theodore Hooks
novels Tom was gradually allowed to shuffle through his lessons with less
rigour and having Philip to help him he was able to make some show of having
applied his mind in a confused and blundering way without being crossexamined
into a betrayal that his mind had been entirely neutral in the matter He
thought school much more bearable under this modification of circumstances and
he went on contentedly enough picking up a promiscuous education chiefly from
things that were not intended as education at all What was understood to be his
education was simply the practice of reading writing and spelling carried on
by an elaborate appliance of unintelligible ideas and by much failure in the
effort to learn by rote
Nevertheless there was a visible improvement in Tom under this training
perhaps because he was not a boy in the abstract existing solely to illustrate
the evils of a mistaken education but a boy made of flesh and blood with
dispositions not entirely at the mercy of circumstances
There was a great improvement in his bearing for example and some credit
on this score was due to Mr Poulter the village schoolmaster who being an
old Peninsular soldier was employed to drill Tom a source of high mutual
pleasure Mr Poulter who was understood by the company at the Black Swan to
have once struck terror into the hearts of the French was no longer personally
formidable He had rather a shrunken appearance and was tremulous in the
mornings not from age but from the extreme perversity of the Kings Lorton
boys which nothing but gin could enable him to sustain with any firmness Still
he carried himself with martial erectness had his clothes scrupulously brushed
and his trousers tightly strapped and on the Wednesday and Saturday afternoons
when he came to Tom he was always inspired with gin and old memories which
gave him an exceptionally spirited air as of a superannuated charger who hears
the drum The drillinglessons were always protracted by episodes of warlike
narrative much more interesting to Tom than Philips stories out of the Iliad
for there were no cannon in the Iliad and besides Tom had felt some disgust
on learning that Hector and Achilles might possibly never have existed But the
Duke of Wellington was really alive and Bony had not been long dead therefore
Mr Poulters reminiscences of the Peninsular War were removed from all
suspicion of being mythical Mr Poulter it appeared had been a conspicuous
figure at Talavera and had contributed not a little to the peculiar terror with
which his regiment of infantry was regarded by the enemy On afternoons when
his memory was more stimulated than usual he remembered that the Duke of
Wellington had in strict privacy lest jealousies should be awakened expressed
his esteem for that fine fellow Poulter The very surgeon who attended him in
the hospital after he had received his gunshot wound had been profoundly
impressed with the superiority of Mr Poulters flesh no other flesh would have
healed in anything like the same time On less personal matters connected with
the important warfare in which he had been engaged Mr Poulter was more
reticent only taking care not to give the weight of his authority to any loose
notions concerning military history Any one who pretended to a knowledge of
what occurred at the siege of Badajos was especially an object of silent pity
to Mr Poulter he wished that prating person had been run down and had the
breath trampled out of him at the first gooff as he himself had he might
talk about the siege of Badajos then Tom did not escape irritating his
drillingmaster occasionally by his curiosity concerning other military matters
than Mr Poulters personal experience
»And General Wolfe Mr Poulter wasnt he a wonderful fighter« said Tom
who held the notion that all the martial heroes commemorated on the publichouse
signs were engaged in the war with Bony
»Not at all« said Mr Poulter contemptuously »Nothing o the sort
Heads up« he added in a tone of stern command which delighted Tom and made
him feel as if he were a regiment in his own person
»No no« Mr Poulter would continue on coming to a pause in his
discipline »Theyd better not talk to me about General Wolfe He did nothing
but die of his wound thats a poor haction I consider Any other man ud have
died o the wounds Ive had One of my swordcuts ud ha killed a fellow
like General Wolfe«
»Mr Poulter« Tom would say at any allusion to the sword »I wish youd
bring your sword and do the swordexercise«
For a long while Mr Poulter only shook his head in a significant manner at
this request and smiled patronisingly as Jupiter may have done when Semele
urged her too ambitious request But one afternoon when a sudden shower of
heavy rain had detained Mr Poulter twenty minutes longer than usual at the
Black Swan the sword was brought just for Tom to look at
»And this is the real sword you fought with in all the battles Mr
Poulter« said Tom handling the hilt »Has it ever cut a Frenchmans head off«
»Head off Ah and would if hed had three heads«
»But you had a gun and bayonet besides« said Tom »I should like the gun
and bayonet best because you could shoot em first and spear em after Bang
Pssss« Tom gave the requisite pantomime to indicate the double enjoyment of
pulling the trigger and thrusting the spear
»Ah but the swords the thing when you come to close fighting« said Mr
Poulter involuntarily falling in with Toms enthusiasm and drawing the sword
so suddenly that Tom leaped back with much agility
»O but Mr Poulter if youre going to do the exercise« said Tom a little
conscious that he had not stood his ground as became an Englishman »let me go
and call Philip Hell like to see you you know«
»What the humpbacked lad« said Mr Poulter contemptuously »Whats the
use of his looking on«
»O but he knows a great deal about fighting« said Tom »and how they used
to fight with bows and arrows and battleaxes«
»Let him come then Ill show him something different from his bows and
arrows« said Mr Poulter coughing and drawing himself up while he gave a
little preliminary play to his wrist
Tom ran in to Philip who was enjoying his afternoons holiday at the piano
in the drawingroom picking out tunes for himself and singing them He was
supremely happy perched like an amorphous bundle on the high stool with his
head thrown back his eyes fixed on the opposite cornice and his lips wide
open sending forth with all his might impromptu syllables to a tune of
Arnes which had hit his fancy
»Come Philip« said Tom bursting in »dont stay roaring la la there
come and see old Poulter do his swordexercise in the carriagehouse«
The jar of this interruption the discord of Toms tones coming across the
notes to which Philip was vibrating in soul and body would have been enough to
unhinge his temper even if there had been no question of Poulter the
drillingmaster and Tom in the hurry of seizing something to say to prevent
Mr Poulter from thinking he was afraid of the sword when he sprang away from
it had alighted on this proposition to fetch Philip though he knew well
enough that Philip hated to hear him mention his drillinglessons Tom would
never have done so inconsiderate a thing except under the severe stress of his
personal pride
Philip shuddered visibly as he paused from his music Then turning red he
said with violent passion
»Get away you lumbering idiot Dont come bellowing at me youre not fit
to speak to anything but a carthorse«
It was not the first time Philip had been made angry by him but Tom had
never before been assailed with verbal missiles that he understood so well
»Im fit to speak to something better than you you poorspirited imp«
said Tom lighting up immediately at Philips fire »You know I wont hit you
because youre no better than a girl But Im an honest mans son and your
fathers a rogue everybody says so«
Tom flung out of the room and slammed the door after him made strangely
heedless by his anger for to slam doors within the hearing of Mrs Stelling
who was probably not far off was an offence only to be wiped out by twenty
lines of Virgil In fact that lady did presently descend from her room in
double wonder at the noise and the subsequent cessation of Philips music She
found him sitting in a heap on the hassock and crying bitterly
»Whats the matter Wakem What was that noise about Who slammed the door«
Philip looked up and hastily dried his eyes »It was Tulliver who came in
to ask me to go out with him«
»And what are you in trouble about« said Mrs Stelling
Philip was not her favourite of the two pupils he was less obliging than
Tom who was made useful in many ways Still his father paid more than Mr
Tulliver did and she meant him to feel that she behaved exceedingly well to
him Philip however met her advances towards a good understanding very much as
a caressed mollusc meets an invitation to show himself out of his shell Mrs
Stelling was not a loving tenderhearted woman she was a woman whose skirt sat
well who adjusted her waist and patted her curls with a preoccupied air when
she inquired after your welfare These things doubtless represent a great
social power but it is not the power of love and no other power could win
Philip from his personal reserve
He said in answer to her question »My toothache came on and made me
hysterical again«
This had been the fact once and Philip was glad of the recollection it
was like an inspiration to enable him to excuse his crying He had to accept
eaudecologne and to refuse creosote in consequence but that was easy
Meanwhile Tom who had for the first time sent a poisoned arrow into
Philips heart had returned to the carriagehouse where he found Mr Poulter
with a fixed and earnest eye wasting the perfections of his swordexercise on
probably observant but inappreciative rats But Mr Poulter was a host in
himself that is to say he admired himself more than a whole army of spectators
could have admired him He took no notice of Toms return being too entirely
absorbed in the cut and thrust the solemn one two three four and Tom not
without a slight feeling of alarm at Mr Poulters fixed eye and hungrylooking
sword which seemed impatient for something else to cut besides the air admired
the performance from as great a distance as possible It was not until Mr
Poulter paused and wiped the perspiration from his forehead that Tom felt the
full charm of the sword and wished it to be repeated
»Mr Poulter« said Tom when the sword was being finally sheathed »I wish
youd lend me your sword a little while to keep«
»No no young gentleman« said Mr Poulter shaking his head decidedly
»you might do yourself some mischief with it«
»No Im sure I wouldnt Im sure Id take care and not hurt myself I
shouldnt take it out of the sheath much but I could ground arms with it and
all that«
»No no it wont do I tell you it wont do« said Mr Poulter preparing
to depart »What ud Mr Stelling say to me«
»O I say do Mr Poulter Id give you my fiveshilling piece if youd let
me keep the sword a week Look here« said Tom reaching out the attractively
large round of silver The young dog calculated the effect as well as if he had
been a philosopher
»Well« said Mr Poulter with still deeper gravity »you must keep it out
of sight you know«
»O yes Ill keep it under the bed« said Tom eagerly »or else at the
bottom of my large box«
»And let me see now whether you can draw it out of the sheath without
hurting yourself«
That process having been gone through more than once Mr Poulter felt that
he had acted with scrupulous conscientiousness and said »Well now Master
Tulliver if I take the crownpiece it is to make sure as youll do no mischief
with the sword«
»O no indeed Mr Poulter« said Tom delightedly handing him the
crownpiece and grasping the sword which he thought might have been lighter
with advantage
»But if Mr Stelling catches you carrying it in« said Mr Poulter
pocketing the crownpiece provisionally while he raised this new doubt
»O he always keeps in his upstairs study on Saturday afternoons« said
Tom who disliked anything sneaking but was not disinclined to a little
stratagem in a worthy cause So he carried off the sword in triumph mixed with
dread dread that he might encounter Mr or Mrs Stelling to his bedroom
where after some consideration he hid it in the closet behind some hanging
clothes That night he fell asleep in the thought that he would astonish Maggie
with it when she came tie it round his waist with his red comforter and make
her believe that the sword was his own and that he was going to be a soldier
There was nobody but Maggie who would be silly enough to believe him or whom he
dared allow to know that he had a sword and Maggie was really coming next week
to see Tom before she went to a boardingschool with Lucy
If you think a lad of thirteen would not have been so childish you must be
an exceptionally wise man who although you are devoted to a civil calling
requiring you to look bland rather than formidable yet never since you had a
beard threw yourself into a martial attitude and frowned before the
lookingglass It is doubtful whether our soldiers would be maintained if there
were not pacific people at home who like to fancy themselves soldiers War like
other dramatic spectacles might possibly cease for want of a »public«
Chapter V
Maggies Second Visit
This last breach between the two lads was not readily mended and for some time
they spoke to each other no more than was necessary Their natural antipathy of
temperament made resentment an easy passage to hatred and in Philip the
transition seemed to have begun there was no malignity in his disposition but
there was a susceptibility that made him peculiarly liable to a strong sense of
repulsion The ox we may venture to assert it on the authority of a great
classic is not given to use his teeth as an instrument of attack and Tom was
an excellent bovine lad who ran at questionable objects in a truly ingenious
bovine manner but he had blundered on Philips tenderest point and had caused
him as much acute pain as if he had studied the means with the nicest precision
and the most envenomed spite Tom saw no reason why they should not make up this
quarrel as they had done many others by behaving as if nothing had happened
for though he had never before said to Philip that his father was a rogue this
idea had so habitually made part of his feeling as to the relation between
himself and his dubious schoolfellow whom he could neither like nor dislike
that the mere utterance did not make such an epoch to him as it did to Philip
And he had a right to say so when Philip hectored over him and called him
names But perceiving that his first advances towards amity were not met he
relapsed into his least favourable disposition towards Philip and resolved
never to appeal to him either about drawing or exercises again They were only
so far civil to each other as was necessary to prevent their state of feud from
being observed by Mr Stelling who would have »put down« such nonsense with
great vigour
When Maggie came however she could not help looking with growing interest
at the new schoolfellow although he was the son of that wicked Lawyer Wakem
who made her father so angry She had arrived in the middle of schoolhours and
had sat by while Philip went through his lessons with Mr Stelling Tom some
weeks ago had sent her word that Philip knew no end of stories not stupid
stories like hers and she was convinced now from her own observation that he
must be very clever she hoped he would think her rather clever too when she
came to talk to him Maggie moreover had rather a tenderness for deformed
things she preferred the wrynecked lambs because it seemed to her that the
lambs which were quite strong and well made wouldnt mind so much about being
petted and she was especially fond of petting objects that would think it very
delightful to be petted by her She loved Tom very dearly but she often wished
that he cared more about her loving him
»I think Philip Wakem seems a nice boy Tom« she said when they went out
of the study together into the garden to pass the interval before dinner »He
couldnt choose his father you know and Ive read of very bad men who had good
sons as well as good parents who had bad children And if Philip is good I
think we ought to be the more sorry for him because his father is not a good
man You like him dont you«
»O hes a queer fellow« said Tom curtly »and hes as sulky as can be
with me because I told him his father was a rogue And Id a right to tell him
so for it was true and he began it with calling me names But you stop here
by yourself a bit Magsie will you Ive got something I want to do upstairs«
»Cant I go too« said Maggie who in this first day of meeting again
loved Toms shadow
»No its something Ill tell you about byandby not yet« said Tom
skipping away
In the afternoon the boys were at their books in the study preparing the
morrows lessons that they might have a holiday in the evening in honour of
Maggies arrival Tom was hanging over his Latin grammar moving his lips
inaudibly like a strict but impatient Catholic repeating his tale of
paternosters and Philip at the other end of the room was busy with two
volumes with a look of contented diligence that excited Maggies curiosity he
did not look at all as if he were learning a lesson She sat on a low stool at
nearly a right angle with the two boys watching first one and then the other
and Philip looking off his book once towards the fireplace caught the pair of
questioning dark eyes fixed upon him He thought this sister of Tullivers
seemed a nice little thing quite unlike her brother he wished he had a little
sister What was it he wondered that made Maggies dark eyes remind him of the
stories about princesses being turned into animals I think it was that her
eyes were full of unsatisfied intelligence and unsatisfied beseeching
affection
»I say Magsie« said Tom at last shutting his books and putting them away
with the energy and decision of a perfect master in the art of leaving off
»Ive done my lessons now Come upstairs with me«
»What is it« said Maggie when they were outside the door a slight
suspicion crossing her mind as she remembered Toms preliminary visit upstairs
»It isnt a trick youre going to play me now«
»No no Maggie« said Tom in his most coaxing tone »its something youll
like ever so«
He put his arm round her neck and she put hers round his waist and twined
together in this way they went upstairs
»I say Magsie you must not tell anybody you know« said Tom »else I
shall get fifty lines«
»Is it alive« said Maggie whose imagination had settled for the moment on
the idea that Tom kept a ferret clandestinely
»O I shant tell you« said he »Now you go into that corner and hide your
face while I reach it out« he added as he locked the bedroom door behind
them »Ill tell you when to turn round You musnt squeal out you know«
»O but if you frighten me I shall« said Maggie beginning to look rather
serious
»You wont be frightened you silly thing« said Tom »Go and hide your
face and mind you dont peep«
»Of course I shant peep« said Maggie disdainfully and she buried her
face in the pillow like a person of strict honour
But Tom looked round warily as he walked to the closet then he stepped into
the narrow space and almost closed the door Maggie kept her face buried
without the aid of principle for in that dreamsuggestive attitude she had soon
forgotten where she was and her thoughts were busy with the poor deformed boy
who was so clever when Tom called out »Now then Magsie«
Nothing but long meditation and preconcerted arrangement of effects could
have enabled Tom to present so striking a figure as he did to Maggie when she
looked up Dissatisfied with the pacific aspect of a face which had no more than
the faintest hint of flaxen eyebrow together with a pair of amiable bluegrey
eyes and round pink cheeks that refused to look formidable let him frown as he
would before the lookingglass Philip had once told him of a man who had a
horseshoe frown and Tom had tried with all his frowningmight to make a
horseshoe on his forehead he had had recourse to that unfailing source of
the terrible burnt cork and had made himself a pair of black eyebrows that met
in a satisfactory manner over his nose and were matched by a less carefully
adjusted blackness about the chin He had wound a red handkerchief round his
cloth cap to give it the air of a turban and his red comforter across his
breast as a scarf an amount of red which with the tremendous frown on his
brow and the decision with which he grasped the sword as he held it with its
point resting on the ground would suffice to convey an approximative idea of
his fierce and bloodthirsty disposition
Maggie looked bewildered for a moment and Tom enjoyed that moment keenly
but in the next she laughed clapped her hands together and said »O Tom
youve made yourself like Bluebeard at the show«
It was clear she had not been struck with the presence of the sword it was
not unsheathed Her frivolous mind required a more direct appeal to its sense of
the terrible and Tom prepared for his masterstroke Frowning with a double
amount of intention if not of corrugation he carefully drew the sword from
its sheath and pointed it at Maggie
»O Tom please dont« exclaimed Maggie in a tone of suppressed dread
shrinking away from him into the opposite corner »I shall scream Im sure I
shall O dont I wish Id never come upstairs«
The corners of Toms mouth showed an inclination to a smile of complacency
that was immediately checked as inconsistent with the severity of a great
warrior Slowly he let down the scabbard on the floor lest it should make too
much noise and then said sternly
»Im the Duke of Wellington March« stamping forward with the right leg a
little bent and the sword still pointing towards Maggie who trembling and
with tearfilled eyes got upon the bed as the only means of widening the space
between them
Tom happy in this spectator of his military performances even though the
spectator was only Maggie proceeded with the utmost exertion of his force to
such an exhibition of the cut and thrust as would necessarily be expected of the
Duke of Wellington
»Tom I will not bear it I will scream« said Maggie at the first
movement of the sword »Youll hurt yourself youll cut your head off«
»One two« said Tom resolutely though at »two« his wrist trembled a
little »Three« came more slowly and with it the sword swung downwards and
Maggie gave a loud shriek The sword had fallen with its edge on Toms foot
and in a moment after he had fallen too Maggie leaped from the bed still
shrieking and immediately there was a rush of footsteps towards the room Mr
Stelling from his upstairs study was the first to enter He found both the
children on the floor Tom had fainted and Maggie was shaking him by the collar
of his jacket screaming with wild eyes She thought he was dead poor child
and yet she shook him as if that would bring him back to life In another
minute she was sobbing with joy because Tom had opened his eyes she couldnt
sorrow yet that he had hurt his foot it seemed as if all happiness lay in his
being alive
Chapter VI
A Love Scene
Poor Tom bore his severe pain heroically and was resolute in not »telling« of
Mr Poulter more than was unavoidable the fiveshilling piece remained a secret
even to Maggie But there was a terrible dread weighing on his mind so
terrible that he dared not even ask the question which might bring the fatal
»yes« he dared not ask the surgeon or Mr Stelling »Shall I be lame sir« He
mastered himself so as not to cry out at the pain but when his foot had been
dressed and he was left alone with Maggie seated by his bedside the children
sobbed together with their heads laid on the same pillow Tom was thinking of
himself walking about on crutches like the wheelwrights son and Maggie who
did not guess what was in his mind sobbed for company It had not occurred to
the surgeon or to Mr Stelling to anticipate this dread in Toms mind and to
reassure him by hopeful words But Philip watched the surgeon out of the house
and waylaid Mr Stelling to ask the very question that Tom had not dared to ask
for himself
»I beg your pardon sir but does Mr Askern say Tulliver will be lame«
»O no O no« said Mr Stelling »not permanently only for a little while«
»Did he tell Tulliver so sir do you think«
»No nothing was said to him on the subject«
»Then may I go and tell him sir«
»Yes to be sure now you mention it I daresay he may be troubling about
that Go to his bedroom but be very quiet at present«
It had been Philips first thought when he heard of the accident »Will
Tulliver be lame It will be very hard for him if he is« and Toms hitherto
unforgiven offences were washed out by that pity Philip felt that they were no
longer in a state of repulsion but were being drawn into a common current of
suffering and sad privation His imagination did not dwell on the outward
calamity and its future effect on Toms life but it made vividly present to him
the probable state of Toms feeling Philip had only lived fourteen years but
those years had most of them been steeped in the sense of a lot irremediably
hard
»Mr Askern says youll soon be all right again Tulliver did you know« he
said rather timidly as he stepped gently up to Toms bed »Ive just been to
ask Mr Stelling and he says youll walk as well as ever again byandby«
Tom looked up with that momentary stopping of the breath which comes with a
sudden joy then he gave a long sigh and turned his bluegrey eyes straight on
Philips face as he had not done for a fortnight or more As for Maggie this
intimation of a possibility she had not thought of before affected her as a new
trouble the bare idea of Toms being always lame overpowered the assurance
that such a misfortune was not likely to befall him and she clung to him and
cried afresh
»Dont be a little silly Magsie« said Tom tenderly feeling very brave
now »I shall soon get well«
»Goodbye Tulliver« said Philip putting out his small delicate hand
which Tom clasped immediately with his more substantial fingers
»I say« said Tom »ask Mr Stelling to let you come and sit with me
sometimes till I get up again Wakem and tell me about Robert Bruce you
know«
After that Philip spent all his time out of schoolhours with Tom and
Maggie Tom liked to hear fighting stories as much as ever but he insisted
strongly on the fact that those great fighters who did so many wonderful things
and came off unhurt wore excellent armour from head to foot which made
fighting easy work he considered He should not have hurt his foot if he had
had an iron shoe on He listened with great interest to a new story of Philips
about a man who had a very bad wound in his foot and cried out so dreadfully
with the pain that his friends could bear with him no longer but put him ashore
on a desert island with nothing but some wonderful poisoned arrows to kill
animals with for food
»I didnt roar out a bit you know« Tom said »and I daresay my foot was as
bad as his Its cowardly to roar«
But Maggie would have it that when anything hurt you very much it was quite
permissible to cry out and it was cruel of people not to bear it She wanted to
know if Philoctetes had a sister and why she didnt go with him on the desert
island and take care of him
One day soon after Philip had told this story he and Maggie were in the
study alone together while Toms foot was being dressed Philip was at his
books and Maggie after sauntering idly round the room not caring to do
anything in particular because she would soon go to Tom again went and leaned
on the table near Philip to see what he was doing for they were quite old
friends now and perfectly at home with each other
»What are you reading about in Greek« she said »Its poetry I can see
that because the lines are so short«
»Its about Philoctetes the lame man I was telling you of yesterday« he
answered resting his head on his hand and looking at her as if he were not at
all sorry to be interrupted Maggie in her absent way continued to lean
forward resting on her arms and moving her feet about while her dark eyes got
more and more fixed and vacant as if she had quite forgotten Philip and his
book
»Maggie« said Philip after a minute or two still leaning on his elbow and
looking at her »if you had had a brother like me do you think you should have
loved him as well as Tom«
Maggie started a little on being roused from her reverie and said »What«
Philip repeated his question
»O yes better« she answered immediately »No not better because I dont
think I could love you better than Tom But I should be so sorry so sorry for
you«
Philip coloured he had meant to imply would she love him as well in spite
of his deformity and yet when she alluded to it so plainly he winced under her
pity Maggie young as she was felt her mistake Hitherto she had instinctively
behaved as if she were quite unconscious of Philips deformity her own keen
sensitiveness and experience under family criticism sufficed to teach her this
as well as if she had been directed by the most finished breeding
»But you are so very clever Philip and you can play and sing« she added
quickly »I wish you were my brother Im very fond of you And you would stay
at home with me when Tom went out and you would teach me everything wouldnt
you Greek and everything«
»But youll go away soon and go to school Maggie« said Philip »and then
youll forget all about me and not care for me any more And then I shall see
you when youre grown up and youll hardly take any notice of me«
»O no I shant forget you Im sure« said Maggie shaking her head very
seriously »I never forget anything and I think about everybody when Im away
from them I think about poor Yap hes got a lump in his throat and Luke says
hell die Only dont you tell Tom because it will vex him so You never saw
Yap hes a queer little dog nobody cares about him but Tom and me«
»Do you care as much about me as you do about Yap Maggie« said Philip
smiling rather sadly
»O yes I should think so« said Maggie laughing
»Im very fond of you Maggie I shall never forget you« said Philip »and
when Im very unhappy I shall always think of you and wish I had a sister with
dark eyes just like yours«
»Why do you like my eyes« said Maggie well pleased She had never heard
any one but her father speak of her eyes as if they had merit
»I dont know« said Philip »Theyre not like any other eyes They seem
trying to speak trying to speak kindly I dont like other people to look at
me much but I like you to look at me Maggie«
»Why I think youre fonder of me than Tom is« said Maggie rather
sorrowfully Then wondering how she could convince Philip that she could like
him just as well although he was crooked she said
»Should you like me to kiss you as I do Tom I will if you like«
»Yes very much nobody kisses me«
Maggie put her arm round his neck and kissed him quite earnestly
»There now« she said »I shall always remember you and kiss you when I see
you again if its ever so long But Ill go now because I think Mr Askerns
done with Toms foot«
When their father came the second time Maggie said to him »O father
Philip Wakem is so very good to Tom he is such a clever boy and I do love
him And you love him too Tom dont you Say you love him« she added
entreatingly
Tom coloured a little as he looked at his father and said »I shant be
friends with him when I leave school father but weve made it up now since my
foot has been bad and hes taught me to play at draughts and I can beat him«
»Well well« said Mr Tulliver »if hes good to you try and make him
amends and be good to him Hes a poor crooked creatur and takes after his
dead mother But dont you be getting too thick with him hes got his fathers
blood in him too Ay ay the grey colt may chance to kick like his black sire«
The jarring natures of the two boys effected what Mr Tullivers admonition
alone might have failed to effect in spite of Philips new kindness and Toms
answering regard in this time of his trouble they never became close friends
When Maggie was gone and when Tom byandby began to walk about as usual the
friendly warmth that had been kindled by pity and gratitude died out by degrees
and left them in their old relation to each other Philip was often peevish and
contemptuous and Toms more specific and kindly impressions gradually melted
into the old background of suspicion and dislike towards him as a queer fellow
a humpback and the son of a rogue If boys and men are to be welded together in
the glow of transient feeling they must be made of metal that will mix else
they inevitably fall asunder when the heat dies out
Chapter VII
The Golden Gates Are Passed
So Tom went on even to the fifth halfyear till he was turned sixteen at
Kings Lorton while Maggie was growing with a rapidity which her aunts
considered highly reprehensible at Miss Firnisss boardingschool in the
ancient town of Laceham on the Floss with cousin Lucy for her companion In her
early letters to Tom she had always sent her love to Philip and asked many
questions about him which were answered by brief sentences about Toms
toothache and a turfhouse which he was helping to build in the garden with
other items of that kind She was pained to hear Tom say in the holidays that
Philip was as queer as ever again and often cross they were no longer very
good friends she perceived and when she reminded Tom that he ought always to
love Philip for being so good to him when his foot was bad he answered »Well
it isnt my fault I dont do anything to him« She hardly ever saw Philip
during the remainder of their schoollife in the Midsummer holidays he was
always away at the seaside and at Christmas she could only meet him at long
intervals in the streets of St Oggs When they did meet she remembered her
promise to kiss him but as a young lady who had been at a boardingschool she
knew now that such a greeting was out of the question and Philip would not
expect it The promise was void like so many other sweet illusory promises of
our childhood void as promises made in Eden before the seasons were divided
and when the starry blossoms grew side by side with the ripening peach
impossible to be fulfilled when the golden gates had been passed
But when their father was actually engaged in the longthreatened lawsuit
and Wakem as the agent at once of Pivart and Old Harry was acting against him
even Maggie felt with some sadness that they were not likely ever to have any
intimacy with Philip again the very name of Wakem made her father angry and
she had once heard him say that if that crookbacked son lived to inherit his
fathers illgotten gains there would be a curse upon him »Have as little to
do with him at school as you can my lad« he said to Tom and the command was
obeyed the more easily because Mr Stelling by this time had two additional
pupils for though this gentlemans rise in the world was not of that
meteorlike rapidity which the admirers of his extemporaneous eloquence had
expected for a preacher whose voice demanded so wide a sphere he had yet enough
of growing prosperity to enable him to increase his expenditure in continued
disproportion to his income
As for Toms school course it went on with milllike monotony his mind
continuing to move with a slow halfstifled pulse in a medium of uninteresting
or unintelligible ideas But each vacation he brought home larger and larger
drawings with the satiny rendering of landscape and watercolours in vivid
greens together with manuscript books full of exercises and problems in which
the handwriting was all the finer because he gave his whole mind to it Each
vacation he brought home a new book or two indicating his progress through
different stages of history Christian doctrine and Latin literature and that
passage was not entirely without result besides the possession of the books
Toms ear and tongue had become accustomed to a great many words and phrases
which are understood to be signs of an educated condition and though he had
never really applied his mind to any one of his lessons the lessons had left a
deposit of vague fragmentary ineffectual notions Mr Tulliver seeing signs
of acquirement beyond the reach of his own criticism thought it was probably
all right with Toms education he observed indeed that there were no maps
and not enough »summing« but he made no formal complaint to Mr Stelling It
was a puzzling business this schooling and if he took Tom away where could he
send him with better effect
By the time Tom had reached his last quarter at Kings Lorton the years had
made striking changes in him since the day we saw him returning from Mr Jacobs
academy He was a tall youth now carrying himself without the least
awkwardness and speaking without more shyness than was a becoming symptom of
blended diffidence and pride he wore his tailcoat and his standup collars
and watched the down on his lip with eager impatience looking every day at his
virgin razor with which he had provided himself in the last holidays Philip
had already left at the autumn quarter that he might go to the south for the
winter for the sake of his health and this change helped to give Tom the
unsettled exultant feeling that usually belongs to the last months before
leaving school This quarter too there was some hope of his fathers lawsuit
being decided that made the prospect of home more entirely pleasurable For
Tom who had gathered his view of the case from his fathers conversation had no
doubt that Pivart would be beaten
Tom had not heard anything from home for some weeks a fact which did not
surprise him for his father and mother were not apt to manifest their affection
in unnecessary letters when to his great surprise on the morning of a dark
cold day near the end of November he was told soon after entering the study at
nine oclock that his sister was in the drawingroom It was Mrs Stelling who
had come into the study to tell him and she left him to enter the drawingroom
alone
Maggie too was tall now with braided and coiled hair she was almost as
tall as Tom though she was only thirteen and she really looked older than he
did at that moment She had thrown off her bonnet her heavy braids were pushed
back from her forehead as if it would not bear that extra load and her young
face had a strangely worn look as her eyes turned anxiously towards the door
When Tom entered she did not speak but only went up to him put her arms round
his neck and kissed him earnestly He was used to various moods of hers and
felt no alarm at the unusual seriousness of her greeting
»Why how is it youre come so early this cold morning Maggie Did you come
in the gig« said Tom as she backed towards the sofa and drew him to her side
»No I came by the coach Ive walked from the turnpike«
»But how is it youre not at school The holidays have not begun yet«
»Father wanted me at home« said Maggie with a slight trembling of the lip
»I came home three or four days ago«
»Isnt my father well« said Tom rather anxiously
»Not quite« said Maggie »Hes very unhappy Tom The lawsuit is ended and
I came to tell you because I thought it would be better for you to know it
before you came home and I didnt like only to send you a letter«
»My father hasnt lost« said Tom hastily springing from the sofa and
standing before Maggie with his hands suddenly thrust in his pockets
»Yes dear Tom« said Maggie looking up at him with trembling
Tom was silent a minute or two with his eyes fixed on the floor Then he
said
»My father will have to pay a good deal of money then«
»Yes« said Maggie rather faintly
»Well it cant be helped« said Tom bravely not translating the loss of a
large sum of money into any tangible results »But my fathers very much vexed
I daresay« he added looking at Maggie and thinking that her agitated face was
only part of her girlish way of taking things
»Yes« said Maggie again faintly Then urged to fuller speech by Toms
freedom from apprehension she said loudly and rapidly as if the words would
burst from her »O Tom he will lose the mill and the land and everything he
will have nothing left«
Toms eyes flashed out one look of surprise at her before he turned pale
and trembled visibly He said nothing but sat down on the sofa again looking
vaguely out of the opposite window
Anxiety about the future had never entered Toms mind His father had always
ridden a good horse kept a good house and had the cheerful confident air of a
man who has plenty of property to fall back upon Tom had never dreamed that his
father would »fail« that was a form of misfortune which he had always heard
spoken of as a deep disgrace and disgrace was an idea that he could not
associate with any of his relations least of all with his father A proud sense
of family respectability was part of the very air Tom had been born and brought
up in He knew there were people in St Oggs who made a show without money to
support it and he had always heard such people spoken of by his own friends
with contempt and reprobation He had a strong belief which was a lifelong
habit and required no definite evidence to rest on that his father could spend
a great deal of money if he chose and since his education at Mr Stellings had
given him a more expensive view of life he had often thought that when he got
older he would make a figure in the world with his horse and dogs and saddle
and other accoutrements of a fine young man and show himself equal to any of
his contemporaries at St Oggs who might consider themselves a grade above him
in society because their fathers were professional men or had large oilmills
As to the prognostics and headshaking of his aunts and uncles they had never
produced the least effect on him except to make him think that aunts and uncles
were disagreeable society he had heard them find fault in much the same way as
long as he could remember His father knew better than they did
The down had come on Toms lip yet his thoughts and expectations had been
hitherto only the reproduction in changed forms of the boyish dreams in which
he had lived three years ago He was awakened now with a violent shock
Maggie was frightened at Toms pale trembling silence There was something
else to tell him something worse She threw her arms round him at last and
said with a half sob
»O Tom dear dear Tom dont fret too much try and bear it well«
Tom turned his cheek passively to meet her entreating kisses and there
gathered a moisture in his eyes which he just rubbed away with his hand The
action seemed to rouse him for he shook himself and said »I shall go home with
you Maggie Didnt my father say I was to go«
»No Tom father didnt wish it« said Maggie her anxiety about his feeling
helping her to master her agitation What would he do when she told him all
»But mother wants you to come poor mother she cries so O Tom its very
dreadful at home«
Maggies lips grew whiter and she began to tremble almost as Tom had done
The two poor things clung closer to each other both trembling the one at an
unshapen fear the other at the image of a terrible certainty When Maggie
spoke it was hardly above a whisper
»And and poor father «
Maggie could not utter it But the suspense was intolerable to Tom A vague
idea of going to prison as a consequence of debt was the shape his fears had
begun to take
»Wheres my father« he said impatiently »Tell me Maggie«
»Hes at home« said Maggie finding it easier to reply to that question
»But« she added after a pause »not himself He fell off his horse He
has known nobody but me ever since He seems to have lost his senses O
father father «
With these last words Maggies sobs burst forth with the more violence for
the previous struggle against them Tom felt that pressure of the heart which
forbids tears he had no distinct vision of their troubles as Maggie had who
had been at home he only felt the crushing weight of what seemed unmitigated
misfortune He tightened his arm almost convulsively round Maggie as she sobbed
but his face looked rigid and tearless his eyes blank as if a black curtain
of cloud had suddenly fallen on his path
But Maggie soon checked herself abruptly a single thought had acted on her
like a startling sound
»We must set out Tom we must not stay father will miss me we must be
at the turnpike at ten to meet the coach« She said this with hasty decision
rubbing her eyes and rising to seize her bonnet
Tom at once felt the same impulse and rose too »Wait a minute Maggie« he
said »I must speak to Mr Stelling and then well go«
He thought he must go to the study where the pupils were but on his way he
met Mr Stelling who had heard from his wife that Maggie appeared to be in
trouble when she asked for her brother and now that he thought the brother and
sister had been alone long enough was coming to inquire and offer his sympathy
»Please sir I must go home« Tom said abruptly as he met Mr Stelling in
the passage »I must go back with my sister directly My fathers lost his
lawsuit hes lost all his property and hes very ill«
Mr Stelling felt like a kindhearted man he foresaw a probable money loss
for himself but this had no appreciable share in his feeling while he looked
with grave pity at the brother and sister for whom youth and sorrow had begun
together When he knew how Maggie had come and how eager she was to get home
again he hurried their departure only whispering something to Mrs Stelling
who had followed him and who immediately left the room
Tom and Maggie were standing on the doorstep ready to set out when Mrs
Stelling came with a little basket which she hung on Maggies arms saying »Do
remember to eat something on the way dear« Maggies heart went out towards
this woman whom she had never liked and she kissed her silently It was the
first sign within the poor child of that new sense which is the gift of sorrow
that susceptibility to the bare offices of humanity which raises them into a
bond of loving fellowship as to haggard men among the icebergs the mere
presence of an ordinary comrade stirs the deep fountains of affection
Mr Stelling put his hand on Toms shoulder and said »God bless you my
boy let me know how you get on« Then he pressed Maggies hand but there were
no audible goodbyes Tom had so often thought how joyful he should be the day
he left school »for good« And now his school years seemed like a holiday that
had come to an end
The two slight youthful figures soon grew indistinct on the distant road
were soon lost behind the projecting hedgerow
They had gone forth together into their new life of sorrow and they would
never more see the sunshine undimmed by remembered cares They had entered the
thorny wilderness and the golden gates of their childhood had for ever closed
behind them
Book Third
The Downfall
Chapter I
What Had Happened at Home
When Mr Tulliver first knew the fact that the lawsuit was decided against him
and that Pivart and Wakem were triumphant every one who happened to observe him
at the time thought that for so confident and hottempered a man he bore the
blow remarkably well He thought so himself he thought he was going to show
that if Wakem or anybody else considered him crushed they would find themselves
mistaken He could not refuse to see that the costs of this protracted suit
would take more than he possessed to pay them but he appeared to himself to be
full of expedients by which he could ward off any results but such as were
tolerable and could avoid the appearance of breaking down in the world All the
obstinacy and defiance of his nature driven out of their old channel found a
vent for themselves in the immediate formation of plans by which he would meet
his difficulties and remain Mr Tulliver of Dorlcote Mill in spite of them
There was such a rush of projects in his brain that it was no wonder his face
was flushed when he came away from his talk with his attorney Mr Gore and
mounted his horse to ride home from Lindum There was Furley who held the
mortgage on the land a reasonable fellow who would see his own interest Mr
Tulliver was convinced and who would be glad not only to purchase the whole
estate including the mill and homestead but would accept Mr Tulliver as
tenant and be willing to advance money to be repaid with high interest out of
the profits of the business which would be made over to him Mr Tulliver only
taking enough barely to maintain himself and his family Who would neglect such
a profitable investment Certainly not Furley for Mr Tulliver had determined
that Furley should meet his plans with the utmost alacrity and there are men
whose brains have not yet been dangerously heated by the loss of a lawsuit who
are apt to see in their own interest or desires a motive for other mens
actions There was no doubt in the millers mind that Furley would do just
what was desirable and if he did why things would not be so very much worse
Mr Tulliver and his family must live more meagrely and humbly but it would
only be till the profits of the business had paid off Furleys advances and
that might be while Mr Tulliver had still a good many years of life before him
It was clear that the costs of the suit could be paid without his being obliged
to turn out of his old place and look like a ruined man It was certainly an
awkward moment in his affairs There was that suretyship for poor Riley who had
died suddenly last April and left his friend saddled with a debt of two hundred
and fifty pounds a fact which had helped to make Mr Tullivers banking book
less pleasant reading than a man might desire towards Christmas Well he had
never been one of those poorspirited sneaks who would refuse to give a helping
hand to a fellowtraveller in this puzzling world The really vexatious business
was the fact that some months ago the creditor who had lent him the five hundred
pounds to repay Mrs Glegg had become uneasy about his money set on by Wakem
of course and Mr Tulliver still confident that he should gain his suit and
finding it eminently inconvenient to raise the said sum until that desirable
issue had taken place had rashly acceded to the demand that he should give a
bill of sale on his household furniture and some other effects as security in
lieu of the bond It was all one he had said to himself he should soon pay off
the money and there was no harm in giving that security any more than another
But now the consequences of this bill of sale occurred to him in a new light
and he remembered that the time was close at hand when it would be enforced
unless the money were repaid Two months ago he would have declared stoutly that
he would never be beholden to his wifes friends but now he told himself as
stoutly that it was nothing but right and natural that Bessy should go to the
Pullets and explain the thing to them they would hardly let Bessys furniture
be sold and it might be security to Pullet if he advanced the money there
would after all be no gift or favour in the matter Mr Tulliver would never
have asked for anything from so poorspirited a fellow for himself but Bessy
might do so if she liked
It is precisely the proudest and most obstinate men who are the most liable
to shift their position and contradict themselves in this sudden manner
everything is easier to them than to face the simple fact that they have been
thoroughly defeated and must begin life anew And Mr Tulliver you perceive
though nothing more than a superior miller and maltster was as proud and
obstinate as if he had been a very lofty personage in whom such dispositions
might be a source of that conspicuous farechoing tragedy which sweeps the
stage in regal robes and makes the dullest chronicler sublime The pride and
obstinacy of millers and other insignificant people whom you pass unnoticingly
on the road every day have their tragedy too but it is of that unwept hidden
sort that goes on from generation to generation and leaves no record such
tragedy perhaps as lies in the conflicts of young souls hungry for joy under
a lot made suddenly hard to them under the dreariness of a home where the
morning brings no promise with it and where the unexpectant discontent of worn
and disappointed parents weighs on the children like a damp thick air in which
all the functions of life are depressed or such tragedy as lies in the slow or
sudden death that follows on a bruised passion though it may be a death that
finds only a parish funeral There are certain animals to which tenacity of
position is a law of life they can never flourish again after a single
wrench and there are certain human beings to whom predominance is a law of life
they can only sustain humiliation so long as they can refuse to believe in it
and in their own conception predominate still
Mr Tulliver was still predominating in his own imagination as he approached
St Oggs through which he had to pass on his way homeward But what was it that
suggested to him as he saw the Laceham coach entering the town to follow it to
the coachoffice and get the clerk there to write a letter requiring Maggie to
come home the very next day Mr Tullivers own hand shook too much under his
excitement for him to write himself and he wanted the letter to be given to the
coachman to deliver at Miss Firnisss school in the morning There was a craving
which he would not account for to himself to have Maggie near him without
delay she must come back by the coach tomorrow
To Mrs Tulliver when he got home he would admit no difficulties and
scolded down her burst of grief on hearing that the lawsuit was lost by angry
assertions that there was nothing to grieve about He said nothing to her that
night about the bill of sale and the application to Mrs Pullet for he had
kept her in ignorance of the nature of that transaction and had explained the
necessity for taking an inventory of the goods as a matter connected with his
will The possession of a wife conspicuously ones inferior in intellect is
like other high privileges attended with a few inconveniences and among the
rest with the occasional necessity for using a little deception
The next day Mr Tulliver was again on horseback in the afternoon on his
way to Mr Gores office at St Oggs Gore was to have seen Furley in the
morning and to have sounded him in relation to Mr Tullivers affairs But he
had not gone halfway when he met a clerk from Mr Gores office who was
bringing a letter to Mr Tulliver Mr Gore had been prevented by a sudden call
of business from waiting at his office to see Mr Tulliver according to
appointment but would be at his office at eleven tomorrow morning and
meanwhile had sent some important information by letter
»O« said Mr Tulliver taking the letter but not opening it »Then tell
Gore Ill see him tomorrow at eleven« and he turned his horse
The clerk struck with Mr Tullivers glistening excited glance looked
after him for a few moments and then rode away The reading of a letter was not
the affair of an instant to Mr Tulliver he took in the sense of a statement
very slowly through the medium of written or even printed characters so he had
put the letter in his pocket thinking he would open it in his armchair at home
But byandby it occurred to him that there might be something in the letter
Mrs Tulliver must not know about and if so it would be better to keep it out
of her sight altogether He stopped his horse took out the letter and read it
It was only a short letter the substance was that Mr Gore had ascertained on
secret but sure authority that Furley had been lately much straitened for
money and had parted with his securities among the rest the mortgage on Mr
Tullivers property which he had transferred to Wakem
In half an hour after this Mr Tullivers own waggoner found him lying by
the roadside insensible with an open letter near him and his grey horse
snuffing uneasily about him
When Maggie reached home that evening in obedience to her fathers call he
was no longer insensible About an hour before he had become conscious and
after vague vacant looks around him had muttered something about »a letter«
which he presently repeated impatiently At the instance of Mr Turnbull the
medical man Gores letter was brought and laid on the bed and the previous
impatience seemed to be allayed The stricken man lay for some time with his
eyes fixed on the letter as if he were trying to knit up his thoughts by its
help But presently a new wave of memory seemed to have come and swept the other
away he turned his eyes from the letter to the door and after looking
uneasily as if striving to see something his eyes were too dim for he said
»The little wench«
He repeated the words impatiently from time to time appearing entirely
unconscious of everything except this one importunate want and giving no sign
of knowing his wife or any one else and poor Mrs Tulliver her feeble
faculties almost paralysed by this sudden accumulation of troubles went
backwards and forwards to the gate to see if the Laceham coach were coming
though it was not yet time
But it came at last and set down the poor anxious girl no longer the
»little wench« except to her fathers fond memory
»O mother what is the matter« Maggie said with pale lips as her mother
came towards her crying She didnt think her father was ill because the letter
had come at his dictation from the office at St Oggs
But Mr Turnbull came now to meet her a medical man is the good angel of
the troubled house and Maggie ran towards the kind old friend whom she
remembered as long as she could remember anything with a trembling questioning
look
»Dont alarm yourself too much my dear« he said taking her hand »Your
father has had a sudden attack and has not quite recovered his memory But he
has been asking for you and it will do him good to see you Keep as quiet as
you can take off your things and come upstairs with me«
Maggie obeyed with that terrible beating of the heart which makes existence
seem simply a painful pulsation The very quietness with which Mr Turnbull
spoke had frightened her susceptible imagination Her fathers eyes were still
turned uneasily towards the door when she entered and met the strange yearning
helpless look that had been seeking her in vain With a sudden flash and
movement he raised himself in the bed she rushed towards him and clasped him
with agonised kisses
Poor child it was very early for her to know one of those supreme moments
in life when all we have hoped or delighted in all we can dread or endure
falls away from our regard as insignificant is lost like a trivial memory in
that simple primitive love which knits us to the beings who have been nearest
to us in their times of helplessness or of anguish
But that flash of recognition had been too great a strain on the fathers
bruised enfeebled powers He sank back again in renewed insensibility and
rigidity which lasted for many hours and was only broken by a flickering
return of consciousness in which he took passively everything that was given to
him and seemed to have a sort of infantine satisfaction in Maggies near
presence such satisfaction as a baby has when it is returned to the nurses
lap
Mrs Tulliver sent for her sisters and there was much wailing and lifting
up of hands below stairs both uncles and aunts saw that the ruin of Bessy and
her family was as complete as they had ever foreboded it and there was a
general family sense that a judgment had fallen on Mr Tulliver which it would
be an impiety to counteract by too much kindness But Maggie heard little of
this scarcely ever leaving her fathers bedside where she sat opposite him
with her hand on his Mrs Tulliver wanted to have Tom fetched home and seemed
to be thinking more of her boy even than of her husband but the aunts and
uncles opposed this Tom was better at school since Mr Turnbull said there was
no immediate danger he believed But at the end of the second day when Maggie
had become more accustomed to her fathers fits of insensibility and to the
expectation that he would revive from them the thought of Tom had become urgent
with her too and when her mother sate crying at night and saying »My poor lad
its nothing but right he should come home« Maggie said »Let me go for
him and tell him mother Ill go tomorrow morning if father doesnt know me
and want me It would be so hard for Tom to come home and not know anything
about it beforehand«
And the next morning Maggie went as we have seen Sitting on the coach on
their way home the brother and sister talked to each other in sad interrupted
whispers
»They say Mr Wakem has got a mortgage or something on the land Tom« said
Maggie »It was the letter with that news in it that made father ill they
think«
»I believe that scoundrels been planning all along to ruin my father« said
Tom leaping from the vaguest impressions to a definite conclusion »Ill make
him feel for it when Im a man Mind you never speak to Philip again«
»O Tom« said Maggie in a tone of sad remonstrance but she had no spirit
to dispute anything then still less to vex Tom by opposing him
Chapter II
Mrs Tullivers Teraphim or Household Gods
When the coach set down Tom and Maggie it was five hours since she had started
from home and she was thinking with some trembling that her father had perhaps
missed her and asked for »the little wench« in vain She thought of no other
change that might have happened
She hurried along the gravelwalk and entered the house before Tom but in
the entrance she was startled by a strong smell of tobacco The parlour door was
ajar that was where the smell came from It was very strange could any
visitor be smoking at a time like this Was her mother there If so she must be
told that Tom was come Maggie after this pause of surprise was only in the
act of opening the door when Tom came up and they both looked into the parlour
together There was a coarse dingy man of whose face Tom had some vague
recollection sitting in his fathers chair smoking with a jug and glass
beside him
The truth flashed on Toms mind in an instant To »have the bailiff in the
house« and »to be sold up« were phrases which he had been used to even as a
little boy they were part of the disgrace and misery of »failing« of losing
all ones money and being ruined sinking into the condition of poor working
people It seemed only natural this should happen since his father had lost all
his property and he thought of no more special cause for this particular form
of misfortune than the loss of the lawsuit But the immediate presence of this
disgrace was so much keener an experience to Tom than the worst form of
apprehension that he felt at this moment as if his real trouble had only just
begun it was a touch on the irritated nerve compared with its spontaneous dull
aching
»How do you do sir« said the man taking the pipe out of his mouth with
rough embarrassed civility The two young startled faces made him a little
uncomfortable
But Tom turned away hastily without speaking the sight was too hateful
Maggie had not understood the appearance of this stranger as Tom had She
followed him whispering »Who can it be Tom what is the matter« Then with
a sudden undefined dread lest this stranger might have something to do with a
change in her father she rushed upstairs checking herself at the bedroom door
to throw off her bonnet and enter on tiptoe All was silent there her father
was lying heedless of everything around him with his eyes closed as when she
had left him A servant was there but not her mother
»Wheres my mother« she whispered The servant did not know
Maggie hastened out and said to Tom »Father is lying quiet let us go and
look for my mother I wonder where she is«
Mrs Tulliver was not downstairs not in any of the bedrooms There was
but one room below the attic which Maggie had left unsearched it was the
storeroom where her mother kept all her linen and all the precious »best
things« that were only unwrapped and brought out on special occasions Tom
preceding Maggie as they returned along the passage opened the door of this
room and immediately said »Mother«
Mrs Tulliver was seated there with all her laidup treasures One of the
linenchests was open the silver teapot was unwrapped from its many folds of
paper and the best china was laid out on the top of the closed linenchest
spoons and skewers and ladles were spread in rows on the shelves and the poor
woman was shaking her head and weeping with a bitter tension of the mouth over
the mark »Elizabeth Dodson« on the corner of some tablecloths she held in her
lap
She dropped them and started up as Tom spoke
»O my boy my boy« she said clasping him round the neck »To think as I
should live to see this day Were ruined everythings going to be sold up
to think as your father should ha married me to bring me to this Weve got
nothing we shall be beggars we must go to the workhouse «
She kissed him then seated herself again and took another tablecloth on
her lap unfolding it a little way to look at the pattern while the children
stood by in mute wretchedness their minds quite filled for the moment with the
words »beggars« and »workhouse«
»To think o these clothes as I spun myself« she went on lifting things
out and turning them over with an excitement all the more strange and piteous
because the stout blond woman was usually so passive if she had been ruffled
before it was at the surface merely »and Job Haxey wove em and brought the
piece home on his back as I remember standing at the door and seeing him come
before I ever thought o marrying your father And the pattern as I chose myself
and bleached so beautiful and I marked em so as nobody ever saw such marking
they must cut the cloth to get it out for its a particular stitch And
theyre all to be sold and go into strange peoples houses and perhaps be cut
with the knives and wore out before Im dead Youll never have one of em my
boy« she said looking up at Tom with her eyes full of tears »and I meant em
for you I wanted you to have all o this pattern Maggie could have had the
large check it never shows so well when the dishes are on it«
Tom was touched to the quick but there was an angry reaction immediately
His face flushed as he said
»But will my aunts let them be sold mother Do they know about it Theyll
never let your linen go will they Havent you sent to them«
»Yes I sent Luke directly theyd put the bailies in and your aunt Pullets
been and O dear O dear she cries so and says your fathers disgraced my
family and made it the talk o the country and shell buy the spotted cloths
for herself because shes never had so many as she wanted o that pattern and
they shant go to strangers but shes got more checks aready nor she can do
with« Here Mrs Tulliver began to lay back the tablecloths in the chest
folding and stroking them automatically »And your uncle Gleggs been too and
he says things must be bought in for us to lie down on but he must talk to your
aunt and theyre all coming to consult But I know theyll none of em take
my chany« she added turning towards the cups and saucers »for they all found
fault with em when I bought em cause o the small gold sprig all over em
between the flowers But theres none of em got better chany not even your
aunt Pullet herself and I bought it wi my own money as Id saved ever since
I was turned fifteen and the silver teapot too your father never paid for
em And to think as he should ha married me and brought me to this«
Mrs Tulliver burst out crying afresh and she sobbed with her handkerchief
at her eyes a few moments but then removing it she said in a deprecating way
still halfsobbing as if she were called upon to speak before she could command
her voice
»And I did say to him times and times Whativer you do dont go to law
and what more could I do Ive had to sit by while my own fortins been spent
and what should ha been my childrens too Youll have niver a penny my boy
but it isnt your poor mothers fault«
She put out one arm towards Tom looking up at him piteously with her
helpless childish blue eyes The poor lad went to her and kissed her and she
clung to him For the first time Tom thought of his father with some reproach
His natural inclination to blame hitherto kept entirely in abeyance towards his
father by the predisposition to think him always right simply on the ground
that he was Tom Tullivers father was turned into this new channel by his
mothers plaints and with his indignation against Wakem there began to mingle
some indignation of another sort Perhaps his father might have helped bringing
them all down in the world and making people talk of them with contempt but no
one should talk long of Tom Tulliver with contempt The natural strength and
firmness of his nature was beginning to assert itself urged by the double
stimulus of resentment against his aunts and the sense that he must behave like
a man and take care of his mother
»Dont fret mother« he said tenderly »I shall soon be able to get money
Ill get a situation of some sort«
»Bless you my boy« said Mrs Tulliver a little soothed Then looking
round sadly »But I shouldnt ha minded so much if we could ha kept the things
wi my name on em«
Maggie had witnessed this scene with gathering anger The implied reproaches
against her father her father who was lying there in a sort of living death
neutralised all her pity for griefs about tablecloths and china and her anger
on her fathers account was heightened by some egoistic resentment at Toms
silent concurrence with her mother in shutting her out from the common calamity
She had become almost indifferent to her mothers habitual depreciation of her
but she was keenly alive to any sanction of it however passive that she might
suspect in Tom Poor Maggie was by no means made up of unalloyed devotedness
but put forth large claims for herself where she loved strongly She burst out
at last in an agitated almost violent tone »Mother how can you talk so as if
you cared only for things with your name on and not for what has my fathers
name too and to care about anything but dear father himself when hes lying
there and may never speak to us again Tom you ought to say so too you ought
not to let any one find fault with my father«
Maggie almost choked with mingled grief and anger left the room and took
her old place on her fathers bed Her heart went out to him with a stronger
movement than ever at the thought that people would blame him Maggie hated
blame she had been blamed all her life and nothing had come of it but evil
tempers Her father had always defended and excused her and her loving
remembrance of his tenderness was a force within her that would enable her to do
or bear anything for his sake
Tom was a little shocked at Maggies outburst telling him as well as his
mother what it was right to do She ought to have learned better than have those
hectoring assuming manners by this time But he presently went into his
fathers room and the sight there touched him in a way that effaced the
slighter impressions of the previous hour When Maggie saw how he was moved she
went to him and put her arm round his neck as he sat by the bed and the two
children forgot everything else in the sense that they had one father and one
sorrow
Chapter III
The Family Council
It was at eleven oclock the next morning that the aunts and uncles came to hold
their consultation The fire was lighted in the large parlour and poor Mrs
Tulliver with a confused impression that it was a great occasion like a
funeral unbagged the bellrope tassels and unpinned the curtains adjusting
them in proper folds looking round and shaking her head sadly at the polished
tops and legs of the tables which sister Pullet herself could not accuse of
insufficient brightness
Mr Deane was not coming he was away on business but Mrs Deane appeared
punctually in that handsome new gig with the head to it and the liveryservant
driving it which had thrown so clear a light on several traits in her character
to some of her female friends in St Oggs Mr Deane had been advancing in the
world as rapidly as Mr Tulliver had been going down in it and in Mrs Deanes
house the Dodson linen and plate were beginning to hold quite a subordinate
position as a mere supplement to the handsomer articles of the same kind
purchased in recent years a change which had caused an occasional coolness in
the sisterly intercourse between her and Mrs Glegg who felt that Susan was
getting »like the rest« and there would soon be little of the true Dodson
spirit surviving except in herself and it might be hoped in those nephews who
supported the Dodson name on the family land far away in the Wolds People who
live at a distance are naturally less faulty than those immediately under our
own eyes and it seems superfluous when we consider the remote geographical
position of the Ethiopians and how very little the Greeks had to do with them
to inquire further why Homer calls them »blameless«
Mrs Deane was the first to arrive and when she had taken her seat in the
large parlour Mrs Tulliver came down to her with her comely face a little
distorted nearly as it would have been if she had been crying she was not a
woman who could shed abundant tears except in moments when the prospect of
losing her furniture became unusually vivid but she felt how unfitting it was
to be quite calm under present circumstances
»O sister what a world this is« she exclaimed as she entered »what
trouble O dear«
Mrs Deane was a thinlipped woman who made small wellconsidered speeches
on peculiar occasions repeating them afterwards to her husband and asking him
if she had not spoken very properly
»Yes sister« she said deliberately »this is a changing world and we
dont know today what may happen tomorrow But its right to be prepared for
all things and if troubles sent to remember as it isnt sent without a cause
Im very sorry for you as a sister and if the doctor orders jelly for Mr
Tulliver I hope youll let me know Ill send it willingly For it is but right
he should have proper attendance while hes ill«
»Thank you Susan« said Mrs Tulliver rather faintly withdrawing her fat
hand from her sisters thin one »But theres been no talk o jelly yet« Then
after a moments pause she added »Theres a dozen o cut jellyglasses
upstairs I shall niver put jelly into em no more«
Her voice was rather agitated as she uttered the last words but the sound
of wheels diverted her thoughts Mr and Mrs Glegg were come and were almost
immediately followed by Mr and Mrs Pullet
Mrs Pullet entered crying as a compendious mode at all times of
expressing what were her views of life in general and what in brief were the
opinions she held concerning the particular case before her
Mrs Glegg had on her fuzziest front and garments which appeared to have
had a recent resurrection from rather a creasy form of burial a costume
selected with the high moral purpose of instilling perfect humility into Bessy
and her children
»Mrs G wont you come nearer the fire« said her husband unwilling to
take the more comfortable seat without offering it to her
»You see Ive seated myself here Mr Glegg« returned this superior woman
»you can roast yourself if you like«
»Well« said Mr Glegg seating himself goodhumouredly »and hows the poor
man upstairs«
»Dr Turnbull thought him a deal better this morning« said Mrs Tulliver
»he took more notice and spoke to me but hes never known Tom yet looks at
the poor lad as if he was a stranger though he said something once about Tom
and the pony The doctor says his memorys gone a long way back and he doesnt
know Tom because hes thinking of him when he was little Eh dear eh dear«
»I doubt its the water got on his brain« said aunt Pullet turning round
from adjusting her cap in a melancholy way at the pierglass »Its much if he
ever gets up again and if he does hell most like be childish as Mr Carr
was poor man They fed him with a spoon as if hed been a baby for three year
Hed quite lost the use of his limbs but then hed got a Bath chair and
somebody to draw him and thats what you wont have I doubt Bessy«
»Sister Pullet« said Mrs Glegg severely »if I understand right weve
come together this morning to advise and consult about whats to be done in this
disgrace as has fallen upon the family and not to talk o people as dont
belong to us Mr Carr was none of our blood nor noways connected with us as
Ive ever heared«
»Sister Glegg« said Mrs Pullet in a pleading tone drawing on her gloves
again and stroking the fingers in an agitated manner »if youve got anything
disrespectful to say o Mr Carr I do beg of you as you wont say it to me I
know what he was« she added with a sigh »his breath was short to that degree
as you could hear him two rooms off«
»Sophy« said Mrs Glegg with indignant disgust »you do talk o peoples
complaints till its quite undecent But I say again as I said before I didnt
come away from home to talk about acquaintance whether theyd short breath or
long If we arent come together for one to hear what the other ull do to save
a sister and her children from the parish I shall go back One cant act
without the other I suppose it isnt to be expected as I should do
everything«
»Well Jane« said Mrs Pullet »I dont see as youve been so very forrard
at doing So far as I know this is the first time as here youve been since
its been known as the bailiffs in the house and I was here yesterday and
looked at all Bessys linen and things and I told her Id buy in the spotted
table I couldnt speak fairer for as for the teapot as she doesnt want to go
out o the family it stands to sense I cant do with two silver teapots not if
it hadnt a straight spout but the spotted damask I was allays fond on«
»I wish it could be managed so as my teapot and chany and the best castors
neednt be put up for sale« said poor Mrs Tulliver beseechingly »and the
sugartongs the first things ever I bought«
»But that cant be helped you know« said Mr Glegg »If one o the family
chooses to buy em in they can but one thing must be bid for as well as
another«
»And it isnt to be looked for« said uncle Pullet with unwonted
independence of idea »as your own family should pay more for things nor theyll
fetch They may go for an old song by auction«
»O dear O dear« said Mrs Tulliver »to think o my chany being sold i
that way and I bought it when I was married just as you did yours Jane and
Sophy and I know you didnt like mine because o the sprig but I was fond of
it and theres never been a bit broke for Ive washed it myself and theres
the tulips on the cups and the roses as anybody might go and look at em for
pleasure You wouldnt like your chany to go for an old song and be broke to
pieces though yours has got no colour in it Jane its all white and flutted
and didnt cost so much as mine And theres the castors sister Deane I cant
think but youd like to have the castors for Ive heard you say theyre
pretty«
»Well Ive no objection to buy some of the best things« said Mrs Deane
rather loftily »we can do with extra things in our house«
»Best things« exclaimed Mrs Glegg with severity which had gathered
intensity from her long silence »It drives me past patience to hear you all
talking o best things and buying in this that and the other such as silver
and chany You must bring your mind to your circumstances Bessy and not be
thinking o silver and chany but whether you shall get so much as a flock bed
to lie on and a blanket to cover you and a stool to sit on You must remember
if you get em itll be because your friends have bought em for you for
youre dependent upon them for everything for your husband lies there helpless
and hasnt got a penny i the world to call his own And its for your own good
I say this for its right you should feel what your state is and what disgrace
your husbands brought on your own family as youve got to look to for
everything and be humble in your mind«
Mrs Glegg paused for speaking with much energy for the good of others is
naturally exhausting Mrs Tulliver always borne down by the family
predominance of sister Jane who had made her wear the yoke of a younger sister
in very tender years said pleadingly
»Im sure sister Ive never asked anybody to do anything only buy things
as it ud be a pleasure to em to have so as they mightnt go and be spoiled i
strange houses I never asked anybody to buy the things in for me and my
children though theres the linen I spun and I thought when Tom was born I
thought one o the first things when he was lying i the cradle as all the
things Id bought wi my own money and been so careful of ud go to him But
Ive said nothing as I wanted my sisters to pay their money for me What my
husband has done for his sisters unknown and we should ha been better off
this day if it hadnt been as hes lent money and never asked for it again«
»Come come« said Mr Glegg kindly »dont let us make things too dark
Whats done cant be undone We shall make a shift among us to buy whats
sufficient for you though as Mrs G says they must be useful plain things
We mustnt be thinking o whats unnecessary A table and a chair or two and
kitchen things and a good bed and suchlike Why Ive seen the day when I
shouldnt ha known myself if Id lain on sacking istead o the floor We get a
deal o useless things about us only because weve got the money to spend«
»Mr Glegg« said Mrs G »if youll be kind enough to let me speak
istead o taking the words out o my mouth I was going to say Bessy as its
fine talking for you to say as youve never asked us to buy anything for you
let me tell you you ought to have asked us Pray how are you to be purvided
for if your own family dont help you You must go to the parish if they
didnt And you ought to know that and keep it in mind and ask us humble to do
what we can for you istead o saying and making a boast as youve never
asked us for anything«
»You talked o the Mosses and what Mr Tullivers done for em« said uncle
Pullet who became unusually suggestive where advances of money were concerned
»Havent they been anear you They ought to do something as well as other
folks and if hes lent em money they ought to be made to pay it back«
»Yes to be sure« said Mrs Deane »Ive been thinking so How is it Mr
and Mrs Moss arent here to meet us It is but right they should do their
share«
»O dear« said Mrs Tulliver »I never sent em word about Mr Tulliver and
they live so backard among the lanes at Basset they niver hear anything only
when Mr Moss comes to market But I niver gave em a thought I wonder Maggie
didnt though for she was allays so fond of her aunt Moss«
»Why dont your children come in Bessy« said Mrs Pullet at the mention
of Maggie »They should hear what their aunts and uncles have got to say and
Maggie when its me as have paid for half her schooling she ought to think
more of her aunt Pullet than of aunt Mosses I may go off sudden when I get home
today theres no telling«
»If Id had my way« said Mrs Glegg »the children ud ha been in the room
from the first Its time they knew who theyve to look to and its right as
somebody should talk to em and let em know their condition i life and what
theyre come down to and make em feel as theyve got to suffer for their
fathers faults«
»Well Ill go and fetch em sister« said Mrs Tulliver resignedly She
was quite crushed now and thought of the treasures in the storeroom with no
other feeling than blank despair
She went upstairs to fetch Tom and Maggie who were both in their fathers
room and was on her way down again when the sight of the storeroom door
suggested a new thought to her She went towards it and left the children to go
down by themselves
The aunts and uncles appeared to have been in warm discussion when the
brother and sister entered both with shrinking reluctance for though Tom
with a practical sagacity which had been roused into activity by the strong
stimulus of the new emotions he had undergone since yesterday had been turning
over in his mind a plan which he meant to propose to one of his aunts or uncles
he felt by no means amicably towards them and dreaded meeting them all at once
as he would have dreaded a large dose of concentrated physic which was but just
endurable in small draughts As for Maggie she was peculiarly depressed this
morning she had been called up after brief rest at three oclock and had
that strange dreamy weariness which comes from watching in a sickroom through
the chill hours of early twilight and breaking day in which the outside
daylight life seems to have no importance and to be a mere margin to the hours
in the darkened chamber Their entrance interrupted the conversation The
shaking of hands was a melancholy and silent ceremony till uncle Pullet
observed as Tom approached him
»Well young sir weve been talking as we should want your pen and ink you
can write rarely now after all your schooling I should think«
»Ay ay« said uncle Glegg with admonition which he meant to be kind »we
must look to see the good of all this schooling as your fathers sunk so much
money in now
When land is gone and moneys spent
Then learning is most excellent
Nows the time Tom to let us see the good o your learning Let us see whether
you can do better than I can as have made my fortin without it But I began wi
doing with little you see I could live on a basin o porridge and a crust o
breadandcheese But I doubt high living and high learning ull make it harder
for you young man nor it was for me«
»But he must do it« interposed aunt Glegg energetically »whether its
hard or no He hasnt got to consider whats hard he must consider as he isnt
to trusten to his friends to keep him in idleness and luxury hes got to bear
the fruits of his fathers misconduct and bring his mind to fare hard and to
work hard And he must be humble and grateful to his aunts and uncles for what
theyre doing for his mother and father as must be turned out into the streets
and go to the workhouse if they didnt help em And his sister too« continued
Mrs Glegg looking severely at Maggie who had sat down on the sofa by her aunt
Deane drawn to her by the sense that she was Lucys mother »she must make up
her mind to be humble and work for therell be no servants to wait on her any
more she must remember that She must do the work o the house and she must
respect and love her aunts as have done so much for her and saved their money
to leave to their nepheys and nieces«
Tom was still standing before the table in the centre of the group There
was a heightened colour in his face and he was very far from looking humbled
but he was preparing to say in a respectful tone something he had previously
meditated when the door opened and his mother reentered
Poor Mrs Tulliver had in her hands a small tray on which she had placed
her silver teapot a specimen teacup and saucer the castors and sugartongs
»See here sister« she said looking at Mrs Deane as she set the tray on
the table »I thought perhaps if you looked at the teapot again its a good
while since you saw it you might like the pattern better it makes beautiful
tea and theres a stand and everything you might use it for every day or else
lay it by for Lucy when she goes to housekeeping I should be so loth for em to
buy it at the Golden Lion« said the poor woman her heart swelling and the
tears coming »my teapot as I bought when I was married and to think of its
being scratched and set before the travellers and folks and my letters on it
see here ED and everybody to see em«
»Ah dear dear« said aunt Pullet shaking her head with deep sadness
»its very bad to think o the family initials going about everywhere it
niver was so before youre a very unlucky sister Bessy But whats the use o
buying the teapot when theres the linen and spoons and everything to go and
some of em with your full name and when its got that straight spout too«
»As to disgrace o the family« said Mrs Glegg »that cant be helped wi
buying teapots The disgrace is for one o the family to ha married a man as
has brought her to beggary The disgrace is as theyre to be sold up We cant
hinder the country from knowing that«
Maggie had started up from the sofa at the allusion to her father but Tom
saw her action and flushed face in time to prevent her from speaking »Be quiet
Maggie« he said authoritatively pushing her aside It was a remarkable
manifestation of selfcommand and practical judgment in a lad of fifteen that
when his aunt Glegg ceased he began to speak in a quiet and respectful manner
though with a good deal of trembling in his voice for his mothers words had
cut him to the quick
»Then aunt« he said looking straight at Mrs Glegg »if you think its a
disgrace to the family that we should be sold up wouldnt it be better to
prevent it altogether And if you and my aunt Pullet« he continued looking at
the latter »think of leaving any money to me and Maggie wouldnt it be better
to give it now and pay the debt were going to be sold up for and save my
mother from parting with her furniture«
There was silence for a few moments for every one including Maggie was
astonished at Toms sudden manliness of tone Uncle Glegg was the first to
speak
»Ay ay young man come now You show some notion o things But theres
the interest you must remember your aunts get five per cent on their money
and theyd lose that if they advanced it you havent thought o that«
»I could work and pay that every year« said Tom promptly »Id do anything
to save my mother from parting with her things«
»Well done« said uncle Glegg admiringly He had been drawing Tom out
rather than reflecting on the practicability of his proposal But he had
produced the unfortunate result of irritating his wife
»Yes Mr Glegg« said that lady with angry sarcasm »Its pleasant work
for you to be giving my money away as youve pretended to leave at my own
disposial And my money as was my own fathers gift and not yours Mr Glegg
and Ive saved it and added to it myself and had more to put out almost every
year and its to go and be sunk in other folks furniture and encourage em in
luxury and extravagance as theyve no means of supporting and Im to alter my
will or have a codicil made and leave two or three hundred less behind me when
I die me as have allays done right and been careful and the eldest o the
family and my moneys to go and be squandered on them as have had the same
chance as me only theyve been wicked and wasteful Sister Pullet you may do
as you like and you may let your husband rob you back again o the money hes
given you but that isnt my sperrit«
»La Jane how fiery you are« said Mrs Pullet »Im sure youll have the
blood in your head and have to be cupped Im sorry for Bessy and her children
Im sure I think of em o nights dreadful for I sleep very bad wi this new
medicine but its no use for me to think o doing anything if you wont meet
me halfway«
»Why theres this to be considered« said Mr Glegg »Its no use to pay
off this debt and save the furniture when theres all the law debts behind as
ud take every shilling and more than could be made out o land and stock for
Ive made that out from Lawyer Gore Wed need save our money to keep the poor
man with instead o spending it on furniture as he can neither eat nor drink
You will be so hasty Jane as if I didnt know what was reasonable«
»Then speak accordingly Mr Glegg« said his wife with slow loud
emphasis bending her head towards him significantly
Toms countenance had fallen during this conversation and his lip quivered
but he was determined not to give way He would behave like a man Maggie on
the contrary after her momentary delight in Toms speech had relapsed into her
state of trembling indignation Her mother had been standing close by Toms
side and had been clinging to his arm ever since he had last spoken Maggie
suddenly started up and stood in front of them her eyes flashing like the eyes
of a young lioness
»Why do you come then« she burst out »talking and interfering with us and
scolding us if you dont mean to do anything to help my poor mother your own
sister if youve no feeling for her when shes in trouble and wont part with
anything though you would never miss it to save her from pain Keep away from
us then and dont come to find fault with my father he was better than any of
you he was kind he would have helped you if you had been in trouble Tom
and I dont ever want to have any of your money if you wont help my mother
Wed rather not have it well do without you«
Maggie having hurled her defiance at aunts and uncles in this way stood
still with her large dark eyes glaring at them as if she were ready to await
all consequences
Mrs Tulliver was frightened there was something portentous in this mad
outbreak she did not see how life could go on after it Tom was vexed it was
no use to talk so The aunts were silent with surprise for some moments At
length in a case of aberration such as this comment presented itself as more
expedient than any answer
»You havent seen the end o your trouble wi that child Bessy« said Mrs
Pullet »shes beyond everything for boldness and unthankfulness Its dreadful
I might ha let alone paying for her schooling for shes worse nor ever«
»Its no more than what Ive allays said« followed Mrs Glegg »Other folks
may be surprised but Im not Ive said over and over again years ago Ive
said Mark my words that child ull come to no good there isnt a bit of our
family in her And as for her having so much schooling I never thought well o
that Id my reasons when I said I wouldnt pay anything towards it«
»Come come« said Mr Glegg »lets waste no more time in talking lets
go to business Tom now get the pen and ink «
While Mr Glegg was speaking a tall dark figure was seen hurrying past the
window
»Why theres Mrs Moss« said Mrs Tulliver »The bad news must ha reached
her then« and she went out to open the door Maggie eagerly following her
»Thats fortunate« said Mrs Glegg »She can agree to the list o things to
be bought in Its but right she should do her share when its her own brother«
Mrs Moss was in too much agitation to resist Mrs Tullivers movement as
she drew her into the parlour automatically without reflecting that it was
hardly kind to take her among so many persons in the first painful moment of
arrival The tall worn darkhaired woman was a strong contrast to the Dodson
sisters as she entered in her shabby dress with her shawl and bonnet looking as
if they had been hastily huddled on and with that entire absence of
selfconsciousness which belongs to keenlyfelt trouble Maggie was clinging to
her arm and Mrs Moss seemed to notice no one else except Tom whom she went
straight up to and took by the hand
»O my dear children« she burst out »youve no call to think well o me
Im a poor aunt to you for Im one o them as take all and give nothing Hows
my poor brother«
»Mr Turnbull thinks hell get better« said Maggie »Sit down aunt Gritty
Dont fret«
»O my sweet child I feel torn i two« said Mrs Moss allowing Maggie to
lead her to the sofa but still not seeming to notice the presence of the rest
»Weve three hundred pounds o my brothers money and now he wants it and you
all want it poor things and yet we must be sold up to pay it and theres my
poor children eight of em and the little un of all cant speak plain And I
feel as if I was a robber But Im sure Id no thought as my brother «
The poor woman was interrupted by a rising sob
»Three hundred pounds O dear dear« said Mrs Tulliver who when she had
said that her husband had done »unknown« things for his sister had not had any
particular sum in her mind and felt a wifes irritation at having been kept in
the dark
»What madness to be sure« said Mrs Glegg »A man with a family Hed no
right to lend his money i that way and without security Ill be bound if the
truth was known«
Mrs Gleggs voice had arrested Mrs Mosss attention and looking up she
said
»Yes there was security my husband gave a note for it Were not that sort
o people neither of us as ud rob my brothers children and we looked to
paying back the money when the times got a bit better«
»Well but now« said Mr Glegg gently »hasnt your husband no way o
raising this money Because it ud be a little fortin like for these folks if
we can do without Tullivers being made a bankrupt Your husbands got stock it
is but right he should raise the money as it seems to me not but what Im
sorry for you Mrs Moss«
»O sir you dont know what bad luck my husbands had with his stock The
farms suffering so as never was for want o stock and weve sold all the
wheat and were behind with our rent not but what wed like to do whats
right and Id sit up and work half the night if it ud be any good but
theres them poor children four of em such little uns «
»Dont cry so aunt dont fret« whispered Maggie who had kept hold of
Mrs Mosss hand
»Did Mr Tulliver let you have the money all at once« said Mrs Tulliver
still lost in the conception of things which had been »going on« without her
knowledge
»No at twice« said Mrs Moss rubbing her eyes and making an effort to
restrain her tears »The last was after my bad illness four years ago as
everything went wrong and there was a new note made then What with illness and
bad luck Ive been nothing but cumber all my life«
»Yes Mrs Moss« said Mrs Glegg with decision »Yours is a very unlucky
family the mores the pity for my sister«
»I set off in the cart as soon as ever I heard o what had happened« said
Mrs Moss looking at Mrs Tulliver »I should never ha stayed away all this
while if youd thought well to let me know And it isnt as Im thinking all
about ourselves and nothing about my brother only the money was so on my
mind I couldnt help speaking about it And my husband and me desire to do the
right thing sir« she added looking at Mr Glegg »and well make shift and
pay the money come what will if thats all my brothers got to trust to Weve
been used to trouble and dont look for much else Its only the thought o my
poor children pulls me i two«
»Why theres this to be thought on Mrs Moss« said Mr Glegg »and its
right to warn you if Tullivers made a bankrupt and hes got a noteofhand
of your husbands for three hundred pounds youll be obliged to pay it th
assignees ull come on you for it«
»O dear O dear« said Mrs Tulliver thinking of the bankruptcy and not of
Mrs Mosss concern in it Poor Mrs Moss herself listened in trembling
submission while Maggie looked with bewildered distress at Tom to see if he
showed any signs of understanding this trouble and caring about poor aunt Moss
Tom was only looking thoughtful with his eyes on the tablecloth
»And if he isnt made bankrupt« continued Mr Glegg »as I said before
three hundred pounds ud be a little fortin for him poor man We dont know but
what he may be partly helpless if he ever gets up again Im very sorry if it
goes hard with you Mrs Moss but my opinion is looking at it one way itll
be right for you to raise the money and looking at it th other way youll be
obliged to pay it You wont think ill o me for speaking the truth«
»Uncle« said Tom looking up suddenly from his meditative view of the
tablecloth »I dont think it would be right for my aunt Moss to pay the money
if it would be against my fathers will for her to pay it would it«
Mr Glegg looked surprised for a moment or two before he said »Why no
perhaps not Tom but then hed ha destroyed the note you know We must look
for the note What makes you think it ud be against his will«
»Why« said Tom colouring but trying to speak firmly in spite of a boyish
tremor »I remember quite well before I went to school to Mr Stelling my
father said to me one night when we were sitting by the fire together and no
one else was in the room «
Tom hesitated a little and then went on
»He said something to me about Maggie and then he said Ive always been
good to my sister though she married against my will and Ive lent Moss
money but I shall never think of distressing him to pay it Id rather lose it
My children must not mind being the poorer for that And now my fathers ill
and not able to speak for himself I shouldnt like anything to be done contrary
to what he said to me«
»Well but then my boy« said uncle Glegg whose good feeling led him to
enter into Toms wish but who could not at once shake off his habitual
abhorrence of such recklessness as destroying securities or alienating anything
important enough to make an appreciable difference in a mans property »we
should have to make away wi the note you know if were to guard against what
may happen supposing your fathers made bankrupt «
»Mr Glegg« interrupted his wife severely »mind what youre saying
Youre putting yourself very forrard in other folkss business If you speak
rash dont say it was my fault«
»Thats such a thing as I never heared of before« said uncle Pullet who
had been making haste with his lozenge in order to express his amazement
»making away with a note I should think anybody could set the constable on you
for it«
»Well but« said Mrs Tulliver »if the notes worth all that money why
cant we pay it away and save my things from going away Weve no call to
meddle with your uncle and aunt Moss Tom if you think your father ud be angry
when he gets well«
Mrs Tulliver had not studied the question of exchange and was straining
her mind after original ideas on the subject
»Pooh pooh pooh you women dont understand these things« said uncle
Glegg »Theres no way o making it safe for Mr and Mrs Moss but destroying
the note«
»Then I hope youll help me to do it uncle« said Tom earnestly »If my
father shouldnt get well I should be very unhappy to think anything had been
done against his will that I could hinder And Im sure he meant me to remember
what he said that evening I ought to obey my fathers wish about his property«
Even Mrs Glegg could not withhold her approval from Toms words she felt
that the Dodson blood was certainly speaking in him though if his father had
been a Dodson there would never have been this wicked alienation of money
Maggie would hardly have restrained herself from leaping on Toms neck if her
aunt Moss had not prevented her by herself rising and taking Toms hand while
she said with rather a choked voice
»Youll never be the poorer for this my dear boy if theres a God above
and if the moneys wanted for your father Moss and me ull pay it the same as
if there was ever such security Well do as wed be done by for if my children
have got no other luck theyve got an honest father and mother«
»Well« said Mr Glegg who had been meditating after Toms words »we
shouldnt be doing any wrong by the creditors supposing your father was
bankrupt Ive been thinking o that for Ive been a creditor myself and seen
no end o cheating If he meant to give your aunt the money before ever he got
into this sad work o lawing its the same as if hed made away with the note
himself for hed made up his mind to be that much poorer But theres a deal o
things to be considered young man« Mr Glegg added looking admonishingly at
Tom »when you come to money business and you may be taking one mans dinner
away to make another mans breakfast You dont understand that I doubt«
»Yes I do« said Tom decidedly »I know if I owe money to one man Ive no
right to give it to another But if my father had made up his mind to give my
aunt the money before he was in debt he had a right to do it«
»Well done young man I didnt think youd been so sharp« said uncle
Glegg with much candour »But perhaps your father did make away with the note
Let us go and see if we can find it in the chest«
»Its in my fathers room Let us go too aunt Gritty« whispered Maggie
Chapter IV
A Vanishing Gleam
Mr Tulliver even between the fits of spasmodic rigidity which had recurred at
intervals ever since he had been found fallen from his horse was usually in so
apathetic a condition that the exits and entrances into his room were not felt
to be of great importance He had lain so still with his eyes closed all this
morning that Maggie told her aunt Moss she must not expect her father to take
any notice of them
They entered very quietly and Mrs Moss took her seat near the head of the
bed while Maggie sat in her old place on the bed and put her hand on her
fathers without causing any change in his face
Mr Glegg and Tom had also entered treading softly and were busy selecting
the key of the old oak chest from the bunch which Tom had brought from his
fathers bureau They succeeded in opening the chest which stood opposite the
foot of Mr Tullivers bed and propping the lid with the iron holder without
much noise
»Theres a tin box« whispered Mr Glegg »hed most like put a small thing
like a note in there Lift it out Tom but Ill just lift up these deeds
theyre the deeds o the house and mill I suppose and see what there is under
em«
Mr Glegg had lifted out the parchments and had fortunately drawn back a
little when the iron holder gave way and the heavy lid fell with a loud bang
that resounded over the house
Perhaps there was something in that sound more than the mere fact of the
strong vibration that produced the instantaneous effects on the frame of the
prostrate man and for the time completely shook off the obstruction of
paralysis The chest had belonged to his father and his fathers father and it
had always been rather a solemn business to visit it All longknown objects
even a mere window fastening or a particular doorlatch have sounds which are a
sort of recognised voice to us a voice that will thrill and awaken when it
has been used to touch deeplying fibres In the same moment when all the eyes
in the room were turned upon him he started up and looked at the chest the
parchments in Mr Gleggs hand and Tom holding the tin box with a glance of
perfect consciousness and recognition
»What are you going to do with those deeds« he said in his ordinary tone
of sharp questioning whenever he was irritated »Come here Tom What do you do
going to my chest«
Tom obeyed with some trembling it was the first time his father had
recognised him But instead of saying anything more to him his father continued
to look with a growing distinctness of suspicion at Mr Glegg and the deeds
»Whats been happening then« he said sharply »What are you meddling with
my deeds for Is Wakem laying hold of everything Why dont you tell me what
youve been adoing« he added impatiently as Mr Glegg advanced to the foot
of the bed before speaking
»No no friend Tulliver« said Mr Glegg in a soothing tone »Nobodys
getting hold of anything as yet We only came to look and see what was in the
chest Youve been ill you know and weve had to look after things a bit But
lets hope youll soon be well enough to attend to everything yourself«
Mr Tulliver looked round him meditatively at Tom at Mr Glegg and at
Maggie then suddenly appearing aware that some one was seated by his side at
the head of the bed he turned sharply round and saw his sister
»Eh Gritty« he said in the halfsad affectionate tone in which he had
been wont to speak to her »What youre there are you How could you manage to
leave the children«
»O brother« said good Mrs Moss too impulsive to be prudent »Im
thankful Im come now to see you yourself again I thought youd never know us
any more«
»What have I had a stroke« said Mr Tulliver anxiously looking at Mr
Glegg
»A fall from your horse shook you a bit thats all I think« said Mr
Glegg »But youll soon get over it lets hope«
Mr Tulliver fixed his eyes on the bedclothes and remained silent for two
or three minutes A new shadow came over his face He looked up at Maggie first
and said in a lower tone »You got the letter then my wench«
»Yes father« she said kissing him with a full heart She felt as if her
father were come back to her from the dead and her yearning to show him how she
had always loved him could be fulfilled
»Wheres your mother« he said so preoccupied that he received the kiss as
passively as some quiet animal might have received it
»Shes downstairs with my aunts father shall I fetch her«
»Ay ay poor Bessy« and his eyes turned towards Tom as Maggie left the
room
»Youll have to take care of em both if I die you know Tom Youll be
badly off I doubt But you must see and pay everybody And mind theres fifty
pound o Lukes as I put into the business he gave it me a bit at a time and
hes got nothing to show for it You must pay him first thing«
Uncle Glegg involuntarily shook his head and looked more concerned than
ever but Tom said firmly
»Yes father And havent you a note from my uncle Moss for three hundred
pounds We came to look for that What do you wish to be done about it father«
»Ah Im glad you thought o that my lad« said Mr Tulliver »I allays
meant to be easy about that money because o your aunt You mustnt mind losing
the money if they cant pay it and its like enough they cant The notes in
that box mind I allays meant to be good to you Gritty« said Mr Tulliver
turning to his sister »but you know you aggravated me when you would have
Moss«
At this moment Maggie reentered with her mother who came in much agitated
by the news that her husband was quite himself again
»Well Bessy« he said as she kissed him »you must forgive me if youre
worse off than you ever expected to be But its the fault o the law its
none o mine« he added angrily »Its the fault o raskills Tom you mind
this if ever youve got the chance you make Wakem smart If you dont youre
a goodfornothing son You might horsewhip him but hed set the law on you
the laws made to take care o raskills«
Mr Tulliver was getting excited and an alarming flush was on his face Mr
Glegg wanted to say something soothing but he was prevented by Mr Tullivers
speaking again to his wife »Theyll make a shift to pay everything Bessy« he
said »and yet leave you your furniture and your sisters ll do something for
you and Tom ll grow up though what hes to be I dont know Ive
done what I could Ive given him a eddication and theres the little
wench shell get married but its a poor tale «
The sanative effect of the strong vibration was exhausted and with the last
words the poor man fell again rigid and insensible Though this was only a
recurrence of what had happened before it struck all present as if it had been
death not only from its contrast with the completeness of the revival but
because his words had all had reference to the possibility that his death was
near But with poor Tulliver death was not to be a leap it was to be a long
descent under thickening shadows
Mr Turnbull was sent for but when he heard what had passed he said this
complete restoration though only temporary was a hopeful sign proving that
there was no permanent lesion to prevent ultimate recovery
Among the threads of the past which the stricken man had gathered up he had
omitted the bill of sale the flash of memory had only lit up prominent ideas
and he sank into forgetfulness again with half his humiliation unlearned
But Tom was clear upon two points that his uncle Mosss note must be
destroyed and that Lukes money must be paid if in no other way out of his
own and Maggies money now in the savings bank There were subjects you
perceive on which Tom was much quicker than on the niceties of classical
construction or the relations of a mathematical demonstration
Chapter V
Tom Applies His Knife to the Oyster
The next day at ten oclock Tom was on his way to St Oggs to see his uncle
Deane who was to come home last night his aunt had said and Tom had made up
his mind that his uncle Deane was the right person to ask for advice about
getting some employment He was in a great way of business he had not the
narrow notions of uncle Glegg and he had risen in the world on a scale of
advancement which accorded with Toms ambition
It was a dark chill misty morning likely to end in rain one of those
mornings when even happy people take refuge in their hopes And Tom was very
unhappy he felt the humiliation as well as the prospective hardships of his lot
with all the keenness of a proud nature and with all his resolute dutifulness
towards his father there mingled an irrepressible indignation against him which
gave misfortune the less endurable aspect of a wrong Since these were the
consequences of going to law his father was really blamable as his aunts and
uncles had always said he was and it was a significant indication of Toms
character that though he thought his aunts ought to do something more for his
mother he felt nothing like Maggies violent resentment against them for
showing no eager tenderness and generosity There were no impulses in Tom that
led him to expect what did not present itself to him as a right to be demanded
Why should people give away their money plentifully to those who had not taken
care of their own money Tom saw some justice in severity and all the more
because he had confidence in himself that he should never deserve that just
severity It was very hard upon him that he should be put at this disadvantage
in life by his fathers want of prudence but he was not going to complain and
to find fault with people because they did not make everything easy for him He
would ask no one to help him more than to give him work and pay him for it
Poor Tom was not without his hopes to take refuge in under the chill damp
imprisonment of the December fog which seemed only like a part of his home
troubles At sixteen the mind that has the strongest affinity for fact cannot
escape illusion and selfflattery and Tom in sketching his future had no
other guide in arranging his facts than the suggestions of his own brave
selfreliance Both Mr Glegg and Mr Deane he knew had been very poor once
he did not want to save money slowly and retire on a moderate fortune like his
uncle Glegg but he would be like his uncle Deane get a situation in some
great house of business and rise fast He had scarcely seen anything of his
uncle Deane for the last three years the two families had been getting wider
apart but for this very reason Tom was the more hopeful about applying to him
His uncle Glegg he felt sure would never encourage any spirited project but
he had a vague imposing idea of the resources at his uncle Deanes command He
had heard his father say long ago how Deane had made himself so valuable to
Guest amp Co that they were glad enough to offer him a share in the business
that was what Tom resolved he would do It was intolerable to think of being
poor and looked down upon all ones life He would provide for his mother and
sister and make every one say that he was a man of high character He leaped
over the years in this way and in the haste of strong purpose and strong
desire did not see how they would be made up of slow days hours and minutes
By the time he has crossed the stone bridge over the Floss and was entering
St Oggs he was thinking that he would buy his fathers mill and land again
when he was rich enough and improve the house and live there he should prefer
it to any smarter newer place and he could keep as many horses and dogs as he
liked
Walking along the street with a firm rapid step at this point in his
reverie he was startled by some one who had crossed without his notice and who
said to him in a rough familiar voice
»Why Master Tom hows your father this morning« It was a publican of St
Oggs one of his fathers customers
Tom disliked being spoken to just then but he said civilly »Hes still
very ill thank you«
»Ay its been a sore chance for you young man hasnt it this lawsuit
turning out against him« said the publican with a confused beery idea of being
goodnatured
Tom reddened and passed on he would have felt it like the handling of a
bruise even if there had been the most polite and delicate reference to his
position
»Thats Tullivers son« said the publican to a grocer standing on the
adjacent doorstep
»Ah« said the grocer »I thought I knew his features He takes after his
mothers family she was a Dodson Hes a fine straight youth whats he been
brought up to«
»Oh to turn up his nose at his fathers customers and be a fine gentleman
not much else I think«
Tom roused from his dream of the future to a thorough consciousness of the
present made all the greater haste to reach the warehouse offices of Guest
amp Co where he expected to find his uncle Deane But this was Mr Deanes
morning at the bank a clerk told him with some contempt for his ignorance Mr
Deane was not to be found in River Street on a Thursday morning
At the bank Tom was admitted into the private room where his uncle was
immediately after sending in his name Mr Deane was auditing accounts but he
looked up as Tom entered and putting out his hand said »Well Tom nothing
fresh the matter at home I hope Hows your father«
»Much the same thank you uncle« said Tom feeling nervous »But I want to
speak to you please when youre at liberty«
»Sit down sit down« said Mr Deane relapsing into his accounts in which
he and the managingclerk remained so absorbed for the next halfhour that Tom
began to wonder whether he should have to sit in this way till the bank closed
there seemed so little tendency towards a conclusion in the quiet monotonous
procedure of these sleek prosperous men of business Would his uncle give him a
place in the bank it would be very dull prosy work he thought writing there
for ever to the loud ticking of a timepiece He preferred some other way of
getting rich But at last there was a change his uncle took a pen and wrote
something with a flourish at the end
»Youll just step up to Torrys now Mr Spence will you« said Mr Deane
and the clock suddenly became less loud and deliberate in Toms ears
»Well Tom« said Mr Deane when they were alone turning his substantial
person a little in his chair and taking out his snuffbox »whats the
business my boy whats the business« Mr Deane who had heard from his wife
what had passed the day before thought Tom was come to appeal to him for some
means of averting the sale
»I hope youll excuse me for troubling you uncle« said Tom colouring but
speaking in a tone which though tremulous had a certain proud independence in
it »but I thought you were the best person to advise me what to do«
»Ah« said Mr Deane reserving his pinch of snuff and looking at Tom with
new attention »let us hear«
»I want to get a situation uncle so that I may earn some money« said Tom
who never fell into circumlocution
»A situation« said Mr Deane and then took his pinch of snuff with
elaborate justice to each nostril Tom thought snufftaking a most provoking
habit
»Why let me see how old are you« said Mr Deane as he threw himself
backward again
»Sixteen I mean I am going in seventeen« said Tom hoping his uncle
noticed how much beard he had
»Let me see your father had some notion of making you an engineer I
think«
»But I dont think I could get any money at that for a long while could I«
»Thats true but people dont get much money at anything my boy when
theyre only sixteen Youve had a good deal of schooling however I suppose
youre pretty well up in accounts eh You understand bookkeeping«
»No« said Tom rather falteringly »I was in Practice But Mr Stelling
says I write a good hand uncle Thats my writing« added Tom laying on the
table a copy of the list he had made yesterday
»Ah thats good thats good But you see the best hand in the world ll
not get you a better place than a copyingclerks if you know nothing of
bookkeeping nothing of accounts And a copyingclerks a cheap article But
what have you been learning at school then«
Mr Deane had not occupied himself with methods of education and had no
precise conception of what went forward in expensive schools
»We learned Latin« said Tom pausing a little between each item as if he
were turning over the books in his schooldesk to assist his memory »a good
deal of Latin and the last year I did Themes one week in Latin and one in
English and Greek and Roman History and Euclid and I began Algebra but I
left it off again and we had one day every week for Arithmetic Then I used to
have drawinglessons and there were several other books we either read or
learned out of English Poetry and Horæ Paulinæ and Blairs Rhetoric the last
half«
Mr Deane tapped his snuffbox again and screwed up his mouth he felt in
the position of many estimable persons when they had read the New Tariff and
found how many commodities were imported of which they knew nothing like a
cautious man of business he was not going to speak rashly of a raw material in
which he had had no experience But the presumption was that if it had been
good for anything so successful a man as himself would hardly have been
ignorant of it About Latin he had an opinion and thought that in case of
another war since people would no longer wear hairpowder it would be well to
put a tax upon Latin as a luxury much run upon by the higher classes and not
telling at all on the shipowning department But for what he knew the Horæ
Paulinæ might be something less neutral On the whole this list of acquirements
gave him a sort of repulsion towards poor Tom
»Well« he said at last in rather a cold sardonic tone »youve had three
years at these things you must be pretty strong in em Hadnt you better take
up some line where theyll come in handy«
Tom coloured and burst out with new energy
»Id rather not have any employment of that sort uncle I dont like Latin
and those things I dont know what I could do with them unless I went as usher
in a school and I dont know them well enough for that besides I would as
soon carry a pair of panniers I dont want to be that sort of person I should
like to enter into some business where I can get on a manly business where I
should have to look after things and get credit for what I did And I shall
want to keep my mother and sister«
»Ah young gentleman« said Mr Deane with that tendency to repress
youthful hopes which stout and successful men of fifty find one of their easiest
duties »thats sooner said than done sooner said than done«
»But didnt you get on in that way uncle« said Tom a little irritated
that Mr Deane did not enter more rapidly into his views »I mean didnt you
rise from one place to another through your abilities and good conduct«
»Ay ay sir« said Mr Deane spreading himself in his chair a little and
entering with great readiness into a retrospect of his own career »But Ill
tell you how I got on It wasnt by getting astride a stick and thinking it
would turn into a horse if I sat on it long enough I kept my eyes and ears
open sir and I wasnt too fond of my own back and I made my masters interest
my own Why with only looking into what went on in the mill I found out how
there was a waste of five hundred ayear that might be hindered Why sir I
hadnt more schooling to begin with than a charity boy but I saw pretty soon
that I couldnt get on far without mastering accounts and I learned em between
working hours after Id been unlading Look here« Mr Deane opened a book and
pointed to the page »I write a good hand enough and Ill match anybody at all
sorts of reckoning by the head and I got it all by hard work and paid for it
out of my own earnings often out of my own dinner and supper And I looked
into the nature of all the things we had to do with in the business and picked
up knowledge as I went about my work and turned it over in my head Why Im no
mechanic I never pretended to be but Ive thought of a thing or two that the
mechanics never thought of and its made a fine difference in our returns And
there isnt an article shipped or unshipped at our wharf but I know the quality
of it If I got places sir it was because I made myself fit for em If you
want to slip into a round hole you must make a ball of yourself thats where
it is«
Mr Deane tapped his box again He had been led on by pure enthusiasm in his
subject and had really forgotten what bearing this retrospective survey had on
his listener He had found occasion for saying the same thing more than once
before and was not distinctly aware that he had not his portwine before him
»Well uncle« said Tom with a slight complaint in his tone »thats what I
should like to do Cant I get on in the same way«
»In the same way« said Mr Deane eyeing Tom with quiet deliberation
»There go two or three questions to that Master Tom That depends on what sort
of material you are to begin with and whether youve been put into the right
mill But Ill tell you what it is Your poor father went the wrong way to work
in giving you an education It wasnt my business and I didnt interfere but
it is as I thought it would be Youve had a sort of learning thats all very
well for a young fellow like our Mr Stephen Guest wholl have nothing to do
but sign cheques all his life and may as well have Latin inside his head as any
other sort of stuffing«
»But uncle« said Tom earnestly »I dont see why the Latin need hinder me
from getting on in business I shall soon forget it all it makes no difference
to me I had to do my lessons at school but I always thought theyd never be of
any use to me afterwards I didnt care about them«
»Ay ay thats all very well« said Mr Deane »but it doesnt alter what I
was going to say Your Latin and rigmarole may soon dry off you but youll be
but a bare stick after that Besides its whitened your hands and taken the
rough work out of you And what do you know Why you know nothing about
bookkeeping to begin with and not so much of reckoning as a common shopman
Youll have to begin at a low round of the ladder let me tell you if you mean
to get on in life Its no use forgetting the education your fathers been
paying for if you dont give yourself a new un«
Tom bit his lips hard he felt as if the tears were rising and he would
rather die than let them
»You want me to help you to a situation« Mr Deane went on »well Ive no
fault to find with that Im willing to do something for you But you
youngsters nowadays think youre to begin with living well and working easy
youve no notion of running afoot before you get on horseback Now you must
remember what you are youre a lad of sixteen trained to nothing particular
Theres heaps of your sort like so many pebbles made to fit in nowhere Well
you might be apprenticed to some business a chemists and druggists perhaps
your Latin might come in a bit there «
Tom was going to speak but Mr Deane put up his hand and said
»Stop hear what Ive got to say You dont want to be a prentice I know
I know you want to make more haste and you dont want to stand behind a
counter But if youre a copyingclerk youll have to stand behind a desk and
stare at your ink and paper all day there isnt much outlook there and you
wont be much wiser at the end of the year than at the beginning The world
isnt made of pen ink and paper and if youre to get on in the world young
man you must know what the worlds made of Now the best chance for you ud be
to have a place on a wharf or in a warehouse where youd learn the smell of
things but you wouldnt like that Ill be bound youd have to stand cold and
wet and be shouldered about by rough fellows Youre too fine a gentleman for
that«
Mr Deane paused and looked hard at Tom who certainly felt some inward
struggle before he could reply
»I would rather do what will be best for me in the end sir I would put up
with what was disagreeable«
»Thats well if you can carry it out But you must remember it isnt only
laying hold of a rope you must go on pulling Its the mistake you lads make
that have got nothing either in your brains or your pocket to think youve got
a better start in the world if you stick yourselves in a place where you can
keep your coats clean and have the shopwenches take you for fine gentlemen
That wasnt the way I started young man when I was sixteen my jacket smelt of
tar and I wasnt afraid of handling cheeses Thats the reason I can wear good
broadcloth now and have my legs under the same table with the heads of the best
firms in St Oggs«
Uncle Deane tapped his box and seemed to expand a little under his
waistcoat and gold chain as he squared his shoulders in the chair
»Is there any place at liberty that you know of now uncle that I should do
for I should like to set to work at once« said Tom with a slight tremor in
his voice
»Stop a bit stop a bit we mustnt be in too great a hurry You must bear
in mind if I put you in a place youre a bit young for because you happen to
be my nephew I shall be responsible for you And theres no better reason you
know than your being my nephew because it remains to be seen whether youre
good for anything«
»I hope I should never do you any discredit uncle« said Tom hurt as all
boys are at the statement of the unpleasant truth that people feel no ground for
trusting them »I care about my own credit too much for that«
»Well done Tom well done Thats the right spirit and I never refuse to
help anybody if theyve a mind to do themselves justice Theres a young man of
twoandtwenty Ive got my eye on now I shall do what I can for that young man
hes got some pith in him But then you see hes made good use of his time
a firstrate calculator can tell you the cubic contents of anything in no
time and put me up the other day to a new market for Swedish bark hes
uncommonly knowing in manufactures that young fellow«
»Id better set about learning bookkeeping hadnt I uncle« said Tom
anxious to prove his readiness to exert himself
»Yes yes you cant do amiss there But ah Spence youre back again
Well Tom theres nothing more to be said just now I think and I must go to
business again Goodbye Remember me to your mother«
Mr Deane put out his hand with an air of friendly dismissal and Tom had
not courage to ask another question especially in the presence of Mr Spence
So he went out again into the cold damp air He had to call at his uncle Gleggs
about the money in the Savings Bank and by the time he set out again the mist
had thickened and he could not see very far before him but going along River
Street again he was startled when he was within two yards of the projecting
side of a shopwindow by the words »Dorlcote Mill« in large letters on a
handbill placed as if on purpose to stare at him It was the catalogue of the
sale to take place the next week it was a reason for hurrying faster out of
the town
Poor Tom formed no visions of the distant future as he made his way
homeward he only felt that the present was very hard It seemed a wrong towards
him that his uncle Deane had no confidence in him did not see at once that he
should acquit himself well which Tom himself was as certain of as of the
daylight Apparently he Tom Tulliver was likely to be held of small account in
the world and for the first time he felt a sinking of heart under the sense
that he really was very ignorant and could do very little Who was that
enviable young man that could tell the cubic contents of things in no time and
make suggestions about Swedish bark Swedish bark Tom had been used to be so
entirely satisfied with himself in spite of his breaking down in a
demonstration and construing nunc illas promite vires as »now promise those
men« but now he suddenly felt at a disadvantage because he knew less than some
one else knew There must be a world of things connected with that Swedish bark
which if he only knew them might have helped him to get on It would have been
much easier to make a figure with a spirited horse and a new saddle
Two hours ago as Tom was walking to St Oggs he saw the distant future
before him as he might have seen a tempting stretch of smooth sandy beach
beyond a belt of flinty shingles he was on the grassy bank then and thought
the shingles might soon be passed But now his feet were on the sharp stones
the belt of shingles had widened and the stretch of sand had dwindled into
narrowness
»What did my uncle Deane say Tom« said Maggie putting her arm through
Toms as he was warming himself rather drearily by the kitchen fire »Did he say
he would give you a situation«
»No he didnt say that He didnt quite promise me anything he seemed to
think I couldnt have a very good situation Im too young«
»But didnt he speak kindly Tom«
»Kindly Pooh whats the use of talking about that I wouldnt care about
his speaking kindly if I could get a situation But its such a nuisance and
bother Ive been at school all this while learning Latin and things not a
bit of good to me and now my uncle says I must set about learning
bookkeeping and calculation and those things He seems to make out Im good
for nothing«
Toms mouth twitched with a bitter expression as he looked at the fire
»O what a pity we havent got Dominie Sampson« said Maggie who couldnt
help mingling some gaiety with their sadness »If he had taught me bookkeeping
by double entry and after the Italian method as he did Lucy Bertram I could
teach you Tom«
»You teach Yes I daresay Thats always the tone you take« said Tom
»Dear Tom I was only joking« said Maggie putting her cheek against his
coatsleeve
»But its always the same Maggie« said Tom with the little frown he put
on when he was about to be justifiably severe »Youre always setting yourself
up above me and every one else and Ive wanted to tell you about it several
times You ought not to have spoken as you did to my uncles and aunts you
should leave it to me to take care of my mother and you and not put yourself
forward You think you know better than any one but youre almost always wrong
I can judge much better than you can«
Poor Tom he had just come from being lectured and made to feel his
inferiority the reaction of his strong selfasserting nature must take place
somehow and here was a case in which he could justly show himself dominant
Maggies cheek flushed and her lip quivered with conflicting resentment and
affection and a certain awe as well as admiration of Toms firmer and more
effective character She did not answer immediately very angry words rose to
her lips but they were driven back again and she said at last
»You often think Im conceited Tom when I dont mean what I say at all in
that way I dont mean to put myself above you I know you behaved better than
I did yesterday But you are always so harsh to me Tom«
With the last words the resentment was rising again
»No Im not harsh« said Tom with severe decision »Im always kind to
you and so I shall be I shall always take care of you But you must mind what
I say«
Their mother came in now and Maggie rushed away that her burst of tears
which she felt must come might not happen till she was safe upstairs They
were very bitter tears everybody in the world seemed so hard and unkind to
Maggie there was no indulgence no fondness such as she imagined when she
fashioned the world afresh in her own thoughts In books there were people who
were always agreeable or tender and delighted to do things that made one happy
and who did not show their kindness by finding fault The world outside the
books was not a happy one Maggie felt it seemed to be a world where people
behaved the best to those they did not pretend to love and that did not belong
to them And if life had no love in it what else was there for Maggie Nothing
but poverty and the companionship of her mothers narrow griefs perhaps of her
fathers heartcutting childish dependence There is no hopelessness so sad as
that of early youth when the soul is made up of wants and has no long
memories no superadded life in the life of others though we who look on think
lightly of such premature despair as if our vision of the future lightened the
blind sufferers present
Maggie in her brown frock with her eyes reddened and her heavy hair pushed
back looking from the bed where her father lay to the dull walls of this sad
chamber which was the centre of her world was a creature full of eager
passionate longings for all that was beautiful and glad thirsty for all
knowledge with an ear straining after dreamy music that died away and would not
come near to her with a blind unconscious yearning for something that would
link together the wonderful impressions of this mysterious life and give her
soul a sense of home in it
No wonder when there is this contrast between the outward and the inward
that painful collisions come of it
Chapter VI
Tending to Refute the Popular Prejudice
Against the Present of a PocketKnife
In that dark time of December the sale of the household furniture lasted beyond
the middle of the second day Mr Tulliver who had begun in his intervals of
consciousness to manifest an irritability which often appeared to have as a
direct effect the recurrence of spasmodic rigidity and insensibility had lain
in this living death throughout the critical hours when the noise of the sale
came nearest to his chamber Mr Turnbull had decided that it would be a less
risk to let him remain where he was than to move him to Lukes cottage a plan
which the good Luke had proposed to Mrs Tulliver thinking it would be very bad
if the master were »to waken up« at the noise of the sale and the wife and
children had sat imprisoned in the silent chamber watching the large prostrate
figure on the bed and trembling lest the blank face should suddenly show some
response to the sounds which fell on their own ears with such obstinate painful
repetition
But it was over at last that time of importunate certainty and
eyestraining suspense The sharp sound of a voice almost as metallic as the
rap that followed it had ceased the tramping of footsteps on the gravel had
died out Mrs Tullivers blond face seemed aged ten years by the last thirty
hours the poor womans mind had been busy divining when her favourite things
were being knocked down by the terrible hammer her heart had been fluttering at
the thought that first one thing and then another had gone to be identified as
hers in the hateful publicity of the Golden Lion and all the while she had to
sit and make no sign of this inward agitation Such things bring lines in
wellrounded faces and broaden the streaks of white among the hairs that once
looked as if they had been dipped in pure sunshine Already at three oclock
Kezia the goodhearted badtempered housemaid who regarded all people that
came to the sale as her personal enemies the dirt on whose feet was of a
peculiarly vile quality had begun to scrub and swill with an energy much
assisted by a continual low muttering against »folks as came to buy up other
folkss things« and made light of »scrazing« the tops of mahogany tables over
which better folks than themselves had had to suffer a waste of tissue through
evaporation She was not scrubbing indiscriminately for there would be further
dirt of the same atrocious kind made by people who had still to fetch away their
purchases but she was bent on bringing the parlour where that »pipesmoking
pig« the bailiff had sat to such an appearance of scant comfort as could be
given to it by cleanliness and the few articles of furniture bought in for the
family Her mistress and the young folks should have their tea in it that night
Kezia was determined
It was between five and six oclock near the usual teatime when she came
upstairs and said that Master Tom was wanted The person who wanted him was in
the kitchen and in the first moments by the imperfect fire and candlelight
Tom had not even an indefinite sense of any acquaintance with the rather
broadset but active figure perhaps two years older than himself that looked
at him with a pair of blue eyes set in a disc of freckles and pulled some curly
red locks with a strong intention of respect A lowcrowned oilskincovered hat
and a certain shiny deposit of dirt on the rest of the costume as of tablets
prepared for writing upon suggested a calling that had to do with boats but
this did not help Toms memory
»Sarvant Mister Tom« said he of the red locks with a smile which seemed
to break through a selfimposed air of melancholy »You dont know me again I
doubt« he went on as Tom continued to look at him inquiringly »but Id like
to talk to you by yourself a bit please«
»Theres a fire i the parlour Master Tom« said Kezia who objected to
leaving the kitchen in the crisis of toasting
»Come this way then« said Tom wondering if this young fellow belonged to
Guest amp Cos Wharf for his imagination ran continually towards that
particular spot and uncle Deane might any time be sending for him to say that
there was a situation at liberty
The bright fire in the parlour was the only light that showed the few
chairs the bureau the carpetless floor and the one table no not the one
table there was a second table in a corner with a large Bible and a few other
books upon it It was this new strange bareness that Tom felt first before he
thought of looking again at the face which was also lit up by the fire and
which stole a halfshy questioning glance at him as the entirely strange voice
said
»Why you dont remember Bob then as you gen the pocketknife to Mr
Tom«
The roughhandled pocketknife was taken out in the same moment and the
largest blade opened by way of irresistible demonstration
»What Bob Jakin« said Tom not with any cordial delight for he felt a
little ashamed of that early intimacy symbolised by the pocketknife and was
not at all sure that Bobs motives for recalling it were entirely admirable
»Ay ay Bob Jakin if Jakin it must be cause theres so many Bobs as you
went arter the squerrils with that day as I plumped right down from the bough
and bruised my shins a good un but I got the squerril tight for all that an
a scratter it was An this littlish blades broke you see but I wouldnt hev
a new un put in cause they might be cheatin me an givin me another knife
istid for there isnt such a blade i the country its got used to my hand
like An there was niver nobody else gen me nothin but what I got by my own
sharpness only you Mr Tom if it wasnt Bill Fawks as gen me the terrier pup
istid o drowndin it an I had to jaw him a good un afore hed give it me«
Bob spoke with a sharp and rather treble volubility and got through his
long speech with surprising despatch giving the blade of his knife an
affectionate rub on his sleeve when he had finished
»Well Bob« said Tom with a slight air of patronage the foregoing
reminiscences having disposed him to be as friendly as was becoming though
there was no part of his acquaintance with Bob that he remembered better than
the cause of their parting quarrel »is there anything I can do for you«
»Why no Mr Tom« answered Bob shutting up his knife with a click and
returning it to his pocket where he seemed to be feeling for something else »I
shouldnt ha come back upon you now yere i trouble an folks say as the
master as I used to frighten the birds for an he flogged me a bit for fun
when he catched me eatin the turnip as they say hell niver lift up his yead
no more I shouldnt ha come now to ax you to gi me another knife cause you
gen me one afore If a chap gives me one black eye thats enough for me I
shant ax him for another afore I sarve him out an a good turns worth as much
as a bad un anyhow I shall niver grow downards again Mr Tom an you war
the little chap as I liked the best when I war a little chap for all you
leathered me and wouldnt look at me again Theres Dick Brumby there I could
leather him as much as Id a mind but lors you get tired o leatherin a chap
when you can niver make him see what you want him to shy at In seen chaps as
ud stand starin at a bough till their eyes shot out afore theyd see as a
birds tail warnt a leaf Its poor work goin wi such raff but you war
allays a rare un at shying Mr Tom an I could trusten to you for droppin
down wi your stick in the nick o time at a runnin rat or a stoat or that
when I war abeatin the bushes«
Bob had drawn out a dirty canvass bag and would perhaps not have paused
just then if Maggie had not entered the room and darted a look of surprise and
curiosity at him whereupon he pulled his red locks again with due respect But
the next moment the sense of the altered room came upon Maggie with a force that
overpowered the thought of Bobs presence Her eyes had immediately glanced from
him to the place where the bookcase had hung there was nothing now but the
oblong unfaded space on the wall and below it the small table with the Bible
and the few other books
»O Tom« she burst out clasping her hands »where are the books I thought
my uncle Glegg said he would buy them didnt he are those all theyve left
us«
»I suppose so« said Tom with a sort of desperate indifference »Why should
they buy many books when they bought so little furniture«
»O but Tom« said Maggie her eyes filling with tears as she rushed up to
the table to see what books had been rescued »Our dear old Pilgrims Progress
that you coloured with your little paints and that picture of Pilgrim with a
mantle on looking just like a turtle O dear« Maggie went on half sobbing as
she turned over the few books »I thought we should never part with that while
we lived everything is going away from us the end of our lives will have
nothing in it like the beginning«
Maggie turned away from the table and threw herself into a chair with the
big tears ready to roll down her cheeks quite blinded to the presence of Bob
who was looking at her with the pursuant gaze of an intelligent dumb animal
with perceptions more perfect than his comprehension
»Well Bob« said Tom feeling that the subject of the books was
unseasonable »I suppose you just came to see me because were in trouble That
was very goodnatured of you«
»Ill tell you how it is Master Tom« said Bob beginning to untwist his
canvass bag »You see In been with a barge this two ear thats how In been
gettin my livin if it wasnt when I was tentin the furnace between whiles
at Torrys mill But a fortnit ago Id a rare bit o luck I allays thought I
was a lucky chap for I never set a trap but what I catched something but this
wasnt a trap it was a fire i Torrys mill an I doused it else it ud ha
set th oil alight an the genelman gen me ten suvreigns he gen me em
himself last week An he said first I was a sperrited chap but I knowed that
afore but then he outs wi the ten suvreigns an that war summat new Here
they are all but one« Here Bob emptied the canvass bag on the table »An
when Id got em my head was all of a boil like a kettle o broth thinkin
what sort o life I should take to for there war a many trades Id thought on
for as for the barge Im clean tired out wit for it pulls the days out till
theyre as long as pigs chitterlings An I thought first Id ha ferrets an
dogs an be a ratcatcher an then I thought as I should like a bigger way o
life as I didnt know so well for In seen to the bottom o ratcatching an
I thought an thought till at last I settled Id be a packman for theyre
knowin fellers the packmen are an Id carry the lightest things I could i
my pack an thered be a use for a fellers tongue as is no use neither wi
rats nor barges An I should go about the country far an wide an come round
the women wi my tongue an get my dinner hot at the public lors it ud be a
lovely life«
Bob paused and then said with defiant decision as if resolutely turning
his back on that paradisaic picture
»But I dont mind about it not a chip An In changed one o the
suvreigns to buy my mother a goose for dinner an In bought a blue plush
wescoat an a sealskin cap for if I meant to be a packman Id do it
respectable But I dont mind about it not a chip My yead isnt a turnip an
I shall praps have a chance o dousing another fire afore long Im a lucky
chap So Ill thank you to take the nine suvreigns Mr Tom and set yoursen up
with em somehow if its true as the masters broke They maynt go fur enough
but theyll help«
Tom was touched keenly enough to forget his pride and suspicion
»Youre a very kind fellow Bob« he said colouring with that little
diffident tremor in his voice which gave a certain charm even to Toms pride
and severity »and I shant forget you again though I didnt know you this
evening But I cant take the nine sovereigns I should be taking your little
fortune from you and they wouldnt do me much good either«
»Wouldnt they Mr Tom« said Bob regretfully »Now dont say so cause
you think I want em I arent a poor chap My mother gets a good pennorth wi
picking feathers an things an if she eats nothin but breadanwater it
runs to fat An Im such a lucky chap an I doubt you arent quite so lucky
Mr Tom th old master isnt anyhow an so you might take a slice o my
luck an no harm done Lors I found a leg o pork i the river one day it had
tumbled out o one o them roundsterned Dutchmen Ill be bound Come think
better on it Mr Tom for old quinetance sake else I shall think you bear me
a grudge«
Bob pushed the sovereigns forward but before Tom could speak Maggie
clasping her hands and looking penitently at Bob said
»O Im so sorry Bob I never thought you were so good Why I think
youre the kindest person in the world«
Bob had not been aware of the injurious opinion for which Maggie was
performing an inward act of penitence but he smiled with pleasure at this
handsome eulogy especially from a young lass who as he informed his mother
that evening had »such uncommon eyes they looked somehow as they made him feel
nohow«
»No indeed Bob I cant take them« said Tom »but dont think I feel your
kindness less because I say no I dont want to take anything from anybody but
to work my own way And those sovereigns wouldnt help me much they wouldnt
really if I were to take them Let me shake hands with you instead«
Tom put out his pink palm and Bob was not slow to place his hard grimy
hand within it
»Let me put the sovereigns in the bag again« said Maggie »and youll come
and see us when youve bought your pack Bob«
»Its like as if Id come out o makebelieve o purpose to show em you«
said Bob with an air of discontent as Maggie gave him the bag again »ataking
em back i this way I am a bit of a Do you know but it isnt that sort o
Do its ony when a fellers a big rogue or a big flat I like to let him in a
bit thats all«
»Now dont you be up to any tricks Bob« said Tom »else youll get
transported some day«
»No no not me Mr Tom« said Bob with an air of cheerful confidence
»Theres no law again fleabites If I wasnt to take a fool in now and then
hed niver get any wiser But lors hev a suvreign to buy you and Miss summat
ony for a token just to match my pocketknife«
While Bob was speaking he laid down the sovereign and resolutely twisted up
his bag again Tom pushed back the gold and said »No indeed Bob thank you
heartily but I cant take it« And Maggie taking it between her fingers held
it up to Bob and said more persuasively
»Not now but perhaps another time If ever Tom or my father wants help
that you can give well let you know wont we Tom Thats what you would
like to have us always depend on you as a friend that we can go to isnt it
Bob«
»Yes Miss and thank you« said Bob reluctantly taking the money »thats
what Id like anything as you like An I wish you goodbye Miss and
goodluck Mr Tom and thank you for shaking hands wi me though you wouldnt
take the money«
Kezias entrance with very black looks to inquire if she shouldnt bring
in the tea now or whether the toast was to get hardened to a brick was a
seasonable check on Bobs flux of words and hastened his parting bow
Chapter VII
How a Hen Takes to Stratagem
The days passed and Mr Tulliver showed at least to the eyes of the medical
man stronger and stronger symptoms of a gradual return to his normal condition
the paralytic obstruction was little by little losing its tenacity and the
mind was rising from under it with fitful struggles like a living creature
making its way from under a great snowdrift that slides and slides again and
shuts up the newlymade opening
Time would have seemed to creep to the watchers by the bed if it had only
been measured by the doubtful distant hope which kept count of the moments
within the chamber but it was measured for them by a fastapproaching dread
which made the nights come too quickly While Mr Tulliver was slowly becoming
himself again his lot was hastening towards its moment of most palpable change
The taxingmasters had done their work like any respectable gunsmith
conscientiously preparing the musket that duly pointed by a brave arm will
spoil a life or two Allocaturs filing of bills in Chancery decrees of sale
are legal chainshot or bombshells that can never hit a solitary mark but must
fall with widespread shattering So deeply inherent is it in this life of ours
that men have to suffer for each others sins so inevitably diffusive is human
suffering that even justice makes its victims and we can conceive no
retribution that does not spread beyond its mark in pulsations of unmerited
pain
By the beginning of the second week in January the bills were out
advertising the sale under a decree of Chancery of Mr Tullivers farming and
other stock to be followed by a sale of the mill and land held in the proper
afterdinner hour at the Golden Lion The miller himself unaware of the lapse
of time fancied himself still in that first stage of his misfortunes when
expedients might be thought of and often in his conscious hours talked in a
feeble disjointed manner of plans he would carry out when he »got well« The
wife and children were not without hope of an issue that would at least save Mr
Tulliver from leaving the old spot and seeking an entirely strange life For
uncle Deane had been induced to interest himself in this stage of the business
It would not he acknowledged be a bad speculation for Guest amp Co to buy
Dorlcote Mill and carry on the business which was a good one and might be
increased by the addition of steampower in which case Tulliver might be
retained as manager Still Mr Deane would say nothing decided about the matter
the fact that Wakem held the mortgage on the land might put it into his head to
bid for the whole estate and further to outbid the cautious firm of Guest
amp Co who did not carry on business on sentimental grounds Mr Deane was
obliged to tell Mrs Tulliver something to that effect when he rode over to the
mill to inspect the books in company with Mrs Glegg for she had observed that
»if Guest amp Co would only think about it Mr Tullivers father and
grandfather had been carrying on Dorlcote Mill long before the oilmill of that
firm had been so much as thought of« Mr Deane in reply doubted whether that
was precisely the relation between the two mills which would determine their
value as investments As for uncle Glegg the thing lay quite beyond his
imagination the goodnatured man felt sincere pity for the Tulliver family but
his money was all locked up in excellent mortgages and he could run no risk
that would be unfair to his own relatives but he had made up his mind that
Tulliver should have some new flannel waistcoats which he had himself renounced
in favour of a more elastic commodity and that he would buy Mrs Tulliver a
pound of tea now and then it would be a journey which his benevolence delighted
in beforehand to carry the tea and see her pleasure on being assured it was
the best black
Still it was clear that Mr Deane was kindly disposed towards the
Tullivers One day he had brought Lucy who was come home for the Christmas
holidays and the little blond angelhead had pressed itself against Maggies
darker cheek with many kisses and some tears These fair slim daughters keep up
a tender spot in the heart of many a respectable partner in a respectable firm
and perhaps Lucys anxious pitying questions about her poor cousins helped to
make uncle Deane more prompt in finding Tom a temporary place in the warehouse
and in putting him in the way of getting evening lessons in bookkeeping and
calculation
That might have cheered the lad and fed his hopes a little if there had not
come at the same time the muchdreaded blow of finding that his father must be a
bankrupt after all at least the creditors must be asked to take less than
their due which to Toms untechnical mind was the same thing as bankruptcy His
father must not only be said to have »lost his property« but to have »failed«
the word that carried the worst obloquy to Toms mind For when the defendants
claim for costs had been satisfied there would remain the friendly bill of Mr
Gore and the deficiency at the bank as well as the other debts which would
make the assets shrink into unequivocal disproportion »not more than ten or
twelve shillings in the pound« predicted Mr Deane in a decided tone
tightening his lips and the words fell on Tom like a scalding liquid leaving a
continual smart
He was sadly in want of something to keep up his spirits a little in the
unpleasant newness of his position suddenly transported from the easy carpeted
ennui of studyhours at Mr Stellings and the busy idleness of castlebuilding
in a »last half« at school to the companionship of sacks and hides and bawling
men thundering down heavy weights at his elbow The first step towards getting
on in the world was a chill dusty noisy affair and implied going without
ones tea in order to stay in St Oggs and have an evening lesson from a
onearmed elderly clerk in a room smelling strongly of bad tobacco Toms young
pinkandwhite face had its colours very much deadened by the time he took off
his hat at home and sat down with keen hunger to his supper No wonder he was a
little cross if his mother or Maggie spoke to him
But all this while Mrs Tulliver was brooding over a scheme by which she
and no one else would avert the result most to be dreaded and prevent Wakem
from entertaining the purpose of bidding for the mill Imagine a truly
respectable and amiable hen by some portentous anomaly taking to reflection
and inventing combinations by which she might prevail on Hodge not to wring her
neck or send her and her chicks to market the result could hardly be other
than much cackling and fluttering Mrs Tulliver seeing that everything had
gone wrong had begun to think that she had been too passive in life and that
if she had applied her mind to business and taken a strong resolution now and
then it would have been all the better for her and her family Nobody it
appeared had thought of going to speak to Wakem on this business of the mill
and yet Mrs Tulliver reflected it would have been quite the shortest method
of securing the right end It would have been of no use to be sure for Mr
Tulliver to go even if he had been able and willing for he had been »going
to law against Wakem« and abusing him for the last ten years Wakem was always
likely to have a spite against him And now that Mrs Tulliver had come to the
conclusion that her husband was very much in the wrong to bring her into this
trouble she was inclined to think that his opinion of Wakem was wrong too To
be sure Wakem had »put the bailies in the house and sold them up« but she
supposed he did that to please the man that lent Mr Tulliver the money for a
lawyer had more folks to please than one and he wasnt likely to put Mr
Tulliver who had gone to law with him above everybody else in the world The
attorney might be a very reasonable man why not He had married a Miss Clint
and at the time Mrs Tulliver had heard of that marriage the summer when she
wore her blue satin spencer and had not yet any thoughts of Mr Tulliver she
knew no harm of Wakem And certainly towards herself whom he knew to have been
a Miss Dodson it was out of all possibility that he could entertain anything
but goodwill when it was once brought home to his observation that she for her
part had never wanted to go to law and indeed was at present disposed to take
Mr Wakems view of all subjects rather than her husbands In fact if that
attorney saw a respectable matron like herself disposed »to give him good
words« why shouldnt he listen to her representations For she would put the
matter clearly before him which had never been done yet And he would never go
and bid for the mill on purpose to spite her an innocent woman who thought it
likely enough that she had danced with him in their youth at Squire Darleighs
for at those big dances she had often and often danced with young men whose
names she had forgotten
Mrs Tulliver hid these reasonings in her own bosom for when she had thrown
out a hint to Mr Deane and Mr Glegg that she wouldnt mind going to speak to
Wakem herself they had said »No no no« and »Pooh pooh« and »Let Wakem
alone« in the tone of men who were not likely to give a candid attention to a
more definite exposition of her project still less dared she mention the plan
to Tom and Maggie for »the children were always so against everything their
mother said« and Tom she observed was almost as much set against Wakem as his
father was But this unusual concentration of thought naturally gave Mrs
Tulliver an unusual power of device and determination and a day or two before
the sale to be held at the Golden Lion when there was no longer any time to be
lost she carried out her plan by a stratagem There were pickles in question
a large stock of pickles and ketchup which Mrs Tulliver possessed and which
Mr Hyndmarsh the grocer would certainly purchase if she could transact the
business in a personal interview so she would walk with Tom to St Oggs that
morning and when Tom urged that she might let the pickles be at present he
didnt like her to go about just yet she appeared so hurt at this conduct in
her son contradicting her about pickles which she had made after the family
receipts inherited from his own grandmother who had died when his mother was a
little girl that he gave way and they walked together until she turned towards
Danish Street where Mr Hyndmarsh retailed his grocery not far from the
offices of Mr Wakem
That gentleman was not yet come to his office would Mrs Tulliver sit down
by the fire in his private room and wait for him She had not long to wait
before the punctual attorney entered knitting his brow with an examining glance
at the stout blond woman who rose curtsying deferentially a tallish man
with an aquiline nose and abundant irongrey hair You have never seen Mr Wakem
before and are possibly wondering whether he was really as eminent a rascal
and as crafty bitter an enemy of honest humanity in general and or Mr Tulliver
in particular as he is represented to be in that eidolon or portrait of him
which we have seen to exist in the millers mind
It is clear that the irascible miller was a man to interpret any chanceshot
that grazed him as an attempt on his own life and was liable to entanglements
in this puzzling world which due consideration had to his own infallibility
required the hypothesis of a very active diabolical agency to explain them It
is still possible to believe that the attorney was not more guilty towards him
than an ingenious machine which performs its work with much regularity is
guilty towards the rash man who venturing too near it is caught up by some
flywheel or other and suddenly converted into unexpected mincemeat
But it is really impossible to decide this question by a glance at his
person the lines and lights of the human countenance are like other symbols
not always easy to read without a key On an a priori view of Wakems aquiline
nose which offended Mr Tulliver there was not more rascality than in the
shape of his stiff shirtcollar though this too along with his nose might
have become fraught with damnatory meaning when once the rascality was
ascertained
»Mrs Tulliver I think« said Mr Wakem
»Yes sir Miss Elizabeth Dodson as was«
»Pray be seated You have some business with me«
»Well sir yes« said Mrs Tulliver beginning to feel alarmed at her own
courage now she was really in presence of the formidable man and reflecting
that she had not settled with herself how she should begin Mr Wakem felt in
his waistcoat pockets and looked at her in silence
»I hope sir« she began at last »I hope sir youre not athinkin as I
bear you any illwill because o my husbands losing his lawsuit and the
bailies being put in and the linen being sold O dear for I wasnt
brought up in that way Im sure you remember my father sir for he was close
friends with Squire Darleigh and we allays went to the dances there the Miss
Dodsons nobody could be more looked on and justly for there was four of us
and youre quite aware as Mrs Glegg and Mrs Deane are my sisters And as for
going to law and losing money and having sales before youre dead I never saw
anything o that before I was married nor for a long while after And Im not
to be answerable for my bad luck i marrying out o my own family into one where
the goingson was different And as for being drawn in t abuse you as other
folks abuse you sir that I niver was and nobody can say it of me«
Mrs Tulliver shook her head a little and looked at the hem of her
pockethandkerchief
»Ive no doubt of what you say Mrs Tulliver« said Mr Wakem with cold
politeness »But you have some question to ask me«
»Well sir yes But thats what Ive said to myself Ive said youd have
some natral feeling and as for my husband as hasnt been himself for this two
months Im not adefending him in no way for being so hot about th erigation
not but what theres worse men for he never wronged nobody of a shilling nor
a penny not willingly and as for his fieriness and lawing what could I do
And him struck as if it was with death when he got the letter as said youd the
hold upo the land But I cant believe but what youll behave as a gentleman«
»What does all this mean Mrs Tulliver« said Mr Wakem rather sharply
»What do you want to ask me«
»Why sir if youll be so good« said Mrs Tulliver starting a little and
speaking more hurriedly »if youll be so good not to buy the mill an the land
the land wouldnt so much matter only my husband ull be like mad at your
having it«
Something like a new thought flashed across Mr Wakems face as he said
»Who told you I meant to buy it«
»Why sir its none o my inventing and I should never ha thought of it
for my husband as ought to know about the law he allays used to say as lawyers
had never no call to buy anything either lands or houses for they allays got
em into their hands other ways An I should think that ud be the way with
you sir and I niver said as youd be the man to do contrairy to that«
»Ah well who was it that did say so« said Wakem opening his desk and
moving things about with the accompaniment of an almost inaudible whistle
»Why sir it was Mr Glegg and Mr Deane as have all the management and
Mr Deane thinks as Guest amp Co ud buy the mill and let Mr Tulliver work
it for em if you didnt bid for it and raise the price And it ud be such a
thing for my husband to stay where he is if he could get his living for it was
his fathers before him the mill was and his grandfather built it though I
wasnt fond o the noise of it when first I was married for there was no mills
in our family not the Dodsons and if Id known as the mills had so much to
do with the law it wouldnt have been me as ud have been the first Dodson to
marry one but I went into it blindfold that I did erigation and everything«
»What Guest amp Co will keep the mill in their own hands I suppose and
pay your husband wages«
»O dear sir its hard to think of« said poor Mrs Tulliver a little tear
making its way »as my husband should take wage But it ud look more like what
used to be to stay at the mill than to go anywhere else and if youll only
think if you was to bid for the mill and buy it my husband might be struck
worse than he was before and niver get better again as hes getting now«
»Well but if I bought the mill and allowed your husband to act as my
manager in the same way how then« said Mr Wakem
»O sir I doubt he could niver be got to do it not if the very mill stood
still to beg and pray of him For your names like poison to him its so as
never was and he looks upon it as youve been the ruin of him all along ever
since you set the law on him about the road through the meadow thats eight
year ago and hes been going on ever since as Ive allays told him he was
wrong «
»Hes a pigheaded foulmouthed fool« burst out Mr Wakem forgetting
himself
»O dear sir« said Mrs Tulliver frightened at a result so different from
the one she had fixed her mind on »I wouldnt wish to contradict you but its
like enough hes changed his mind with this illness hes forgot a many things
he used to talk about And you wouldnt like to have a corpse on your mind if
he was to die and they do say as its allays unlucky when Dorlcote Mill changes
hands and the water might all run away and then not as Im wishing you any
illluck sir for I forgot to tell you as I remember your wedding as if it was
yesterday Mrs Wakem was a Miss Clint I know that and my boy as there
isnt a nicer handsomer straighter boy nowhere to school with your son «
Mr Wakem rose opened the door and called to one of his clerks
»You must excuse me for interrupting you Mrs Tulliver I have business
that must be attended to and I think there is nothing more necessary to be
said«
»But if you would bear it in mind sir« said Mrs Tulliver rising »and
not run against me and my children and Im not denying Mr Tullivers been in
the wrong but hes been punished enough and theres worse men for its been
giving to other folks has been his fault Hes done nobody any harm but himself
and his family the mores the pity and I go and look at the bare shelves
every day and think where all my things used to stand«
»Yes yes Ill bear it in mind« said Mr Wakem hastily looking towards
the open door
»And if youd please not to say as Ive been to speak to you for my son ud
be very angry with me for demeaning myself I know he would and Ive trouble
enough without being scolded by my children«
Poor Mrs Tullivers voice trembled a little and she could make no answer
to the attorneys »good morning« but curtsied and walked out in silence
»Which day is it that Dorlcote Mill is to be sold Wheres the bill« said
Mr Wakem to his clerk when they were alone
»Next Friday is the day Friday at six oclock«
»Oh just run to Winships the auctioneer and see if hes at home I have
some business for him ask him to come up«
Although when Mr Wakem entered his office that morning he had had no
intention of purchasing Dorlcote Mill his mind was already made up Mrs
Tulliver had suggested to him several determining motives and his mental glance
was very rapid he was one of those men who can be prompt without being rash
because their motives run in fixed tracks and they have no need to reconcile
conflicting aims
To suppose that Wakem had the same sort of inveterate hatred towards
Tulliver that Tulliver had towards him would be like supposing that a pike and
a roach can look at each other from a similar point of view The roach
necessarily abhors the mode in which the pike gets his living and the pike is
likely to think nothing further even of the most indignant roach than that he is
excellent good eating it could only be when the roach choked him that the pike
could entertain a strong personal animosity If Mr Tulliver had ever seriously
injured or thwarted the attorney Wakem would not have refused him the
distinction of being a special object of his vindictiveness But when Mr
Tulliver called Wakem a rascal at the market dinnertable the attorneys
clients were not a whit inclined to withdraw their business from him and if
when Wakem himself happened to be present some jocose cattlefeeder stimulated
by opportunity and brandy made a thrust at him by alluding to old ladies
wills he maintained perfect sang froid and knew quite well that the majority
of substantial men then present were perfectly contented with the fact that
»Wakem was Wakem« that is to say a man who always knew the steppingstones
that would carry him through very muddy bits of practice A man who had made a
large fortune had a handsome house among the trees at Tofton and decidedly the
finest stock of portwine in the neighbourhood of St Oggs was likely to feel
himself on a level with public opinion And I am not sure that even honest Mr
Tulliver himself with his general view of law as a cockpit might not under
opposite circumstances have seen a fine appropriateness in the truth that
»Wakem was Wakem« since I have understood from persons versed in history that
mankind is not disposed to look narrowly into the conduct of great victors when
their victory is on the right side Tulliver then could be no obstruction to
Wakem on the contrary he was a poor devil whom the lawyer had defeated several
times a hottempered fellow who would always give you a handle against him
Wakems conscience was not uneasy because he had used a few tricks against the
miller why should he hate that unsuccessful plaintiff that pitiable furious
bull entangled in the meshes of a net
Still among the various excesses to which human nature is subject
moralists have never numbered that of being too fond of the people who openly
revile us The successful Yellow candidate for the borough of Old Topping
perhaps feels no pursuant meditative hatred toward the Blue editor who consoles
his subscribers with vituperative rhetoric against Yellow men who sell their
country and are the demons of private life but he might not be sorry if law
and opportunity favoured to kick that Blue editor to a deeper shade of his
favourite colour Prosperous men take a little vengeance now and then as they
take a diversion when it comes easily in their way and is no hindrance to
business and such small unimpassioned revenges have an enormous effect in life
running through all degrees of pleasant infliction blocking the fit men out of
places and blackening characters in unpremeditated talk Still more to see
people who have been only insignificantly offensive to us reduced in life and
humiliated without any special efforts of ours is apt to have a soothing
flattering influence Providence or some other prince of this world it
appears has undertaken the task of retribution for us and really by an
agreeable constitution of things our enemies somehow dont prosper
Wakem was not without this parenthetic vindictiveness towards the
uncomplimentary miller and now Mrs Tulliver had put the notion into his head
it presented itself to him as a pleasure to do the very thing that would cause
Mr Tulliver the most deadly mortification and a pleasure of a complex kind
not made up of crude malice but mingling with it the relish of
selfapprobation To see an enemy humiliated gives a certain contentment but
this is jejune compared with the highly blent satisfaction of seeing him
humiliated by your benevolent action or concession on his behalf That is a sort
of revenge which falls into the scale of virtue and Wakem was not without an
intention of keeping that scale respectably filled He had once had the pleasure
of putting an old enemy of his into one of the St Oggs almshouses to the
rebuilding of which he had given a large subscription and here was an
opportunity of providing for another by making him his own servant Such things
give a completeness to prosperity and contribute elements of agreeable
consciousness that are not dreamed of by that shortsighted overheated
vindictiveness which goes out of its way to wreak itself in direct injury And
Tulliver with his rough tongue filed by a sense of obligation would make a
better servant than any chancefellow who was capinhand for a situation
Tulliver was known to be a man of proud honesty and Wakem was too acute not to
believe in the existence of honesty He was given to observing individuals not
to judging of them according to maxims and no one knew better than he that all
men were not like himself Besides he intended to overlook the whole business
of land and mill pretty closely he was fond of these practical rural matters
But there were good reasons for purchasing Dorlcote Mill quite apart from any
benevolent vengeance on the miller It was really a capital investment besides
Guest amp Co were going to bid for it Mr Guest and Mr Wakem were on
friendly dining terms and the attorney liked to predominate over a shipowner
and millowner who was a little too loud in the town affairs as well as in his
tabletalk For Wakem was not a mere man of business he was considered a
pleasant fellow in the upper circles of St Oggs chatted amusingly over his
portwine did a little amateur farming and had certainly been an excellent
husband and father at church when he went there he sat under the handsomest
of mural monuments erected to the memory of his wife Most men would have
married again under his circumstances but he was said to be more tender to his
deformed son than most men were to their bestshapen offspring Not that Mr
Wakem had not other sons besides Philip but towards them he held only a
chiaroscuro parentage and provided for them in a grade of life duly beneath his
own In this fact indeed there lay the clenching motive to the purchase of
Dorlcote Mill While Mrs Tulliver was talking it had occurred to the
rapidminded lawyer among all the other circumstances of the case that this
purchase would in a few years to come furnish a highly suitable position for a
certain favourite lad whom he meant to bring on in the world
These were the mental conditions on which Mrs Tulliver had undertaken to
act persuasively and had failed a fact which may receive some illustration
from the remark of a great philosopher that flyfishers fail in preparing their
bait so as to make it alluring in the right quarter for want of a due
acquaintance with the subjectivity of fishes
Chapter VIII
Daylight on the Wreck
It was a clear frosty January day on which Mr Tulliver first came downstairs
the bright sun on the chestnut boughs and the roofs opposite his window had made
him impatiently declare that he would be caged up no longer he thought
everywhere would be more cheery under this sunshine than his bedroom for he
knew nothing of the bareness below which made the flood of sunshine
importunate as if it had an unfeeling pleasure in showing the empty places and
the marks where wellknown objects once had been The impression on his mind
that it was but yesterday when he received the letter from Mr Gore was so
continually implied in his talk and the attempts to convey to him the idea that
many weeks had passed and much had happened since then had been so soon swept
away by recurrent forgetfulness that even Mr Turnbull had begun to despair of
preparing him to meet the facts by previous knowledge The full sense of the
present could only be imparted gradually by new experience not by mere words
which must remain weaker than the impressions left by the old experience This
resolution to come downstairs was heard with trembling by the wife and
children Mrs Tulliver said Tom must not go to St Oggs at the usual hour he
must wait and see his father downstairs and Tom complied though with an
intense inward shrinking from the painful scene The hearts of all three had
been more deeply dejected than ever during the last few days For Guest amp
Co had not bought the mill both mill and land had been knocked down to Wakem
who had been over the premises and had laid before Mr Deane and Mr Glegg in
Mrs Tullivers presence his willingness to employ Mr Tulliver in case of his
recovery as a manager of the business This proposition had occasioned much
family debating Uncles and aunts were almost unanimously of opinion that such
an offer ought not to be rejected when there was nothing in the way but a
feeling in Mr Tullivers mind which as neither aunts nor uncles shared it
was regarded as entirely unreasonable and childish indeed as a transferring
towards Wakem of that indignation and hatred which Mr Tulliver ought properly
to have directed against himself for his general quarrelsomeness and his
special exhibition of it in going to law Here was an opportunity for Mr
Tulliver to provide for his wife and daughter without any assistance from his
wifes relations and without that too evident descent into pauperism which
makes it annoying to respectable people to meet the degraded member of the
family by the wayside Mr Tulliver Mrs Glegg considered must be made to
feel when he came to his right mind that he could never humble himself enough
for that had come which she had always foreseen would come of his insolence in
time past »to them as were the best friends hed got to look to« Mr Glegg and
Mr Deane were less stern in their views but they both of them thought Tulliver
had done enough harm by his hottempered crotchets and ought to put them out of
the question when a livelihood was offered him Wakem showed a right feeling
about the matter he had no grudge against Tulliver Tom had protested against
entertaining the proposition he shouldnt like his father to be under Wakem he
thought it would look meanspirited but his mothers main distress was the
utter impossibility of ever »turning Mr Tulliver round about Wakem« or getting
him to hear reason no they would all have to go and live in a pigsty on
purpose to spite Wakem who spoke »so as nobody could be fairer« Indeed Mrs
Tullivers mind was reduced to such confusion by living in this strange medium
of unaccountable sorrow against which she continually appealed by asking »O
dear what have I done to deserve worse than other women« that Maggie began to
suspect her poor mothers wits were quite going
»Tom« she said when they were out of their fathers room together »we
must try to make father understand a little of what has happened before he goes
downstairs But we must get my mother away She will say something that will do
harm Ask Kezia to fetch her down and keep her engaged with something in the
kitchen«
Kezia was equal to the task Having declared her intention of staying till
the master could get about again »wage or no wage« she had found a certain
recompense in keeping a strong hand over her mistress scolding her for
»moithering« herself and going about all day without changing her cap and
looking as if she was »mushed« Altogether this time of trouble was rather a
Saturnalian time to Kezia she could scold her betters with unreproved freedom
On this particular occasion there were drying clothes to be fetched in she
wished to know if one pair of hands could do everything indoors and out and
observed that she should have thought it would be good for Mrs Tulliver to put
on her bonnet and get a breath of fresh air by doing that needful piece of
work Poor Mrs Tulliver went submissively downstairs to be ordered about by a
servant was the last remnant of her household dignities she would soon have no
servant to scold her
Mr Tulliver was resting in his chair a little after the fatigue of
dressing and Maggie and Tom were seated near him when Luke entered to ask if
he should help master downstairs
»Ay ay Luke stop a bit sit down« said Mr Tulliver pointing his stick
towards a chair and looking at him with that pursuant gaze which convalescent
persons often have for those who have tended them reminding one of an infant
gazing about after its nurse For Luke had been a constant nightwatcher by his
masters bed
»Hows the water now eh Luke« said Mr Tulliver »Dix hasnt been choking
you up again eh«
»No sir its all right«
»Ay I thought not he wont be in a hurry at that again now Rileys been
to settle him That was what I said to Riley yesterday I said «
Mr Tulliver leaned forward resting his elbows on the armchair and looking
on the ground as if in search of something striving after vanishing images
like a man struggling against a doze Maggie looked at Tom in mute distress
their fathers mind was so far off the present which would byandby thrust
itself on his wandering consciousness Tom was almost ready to rush away with
that impatience of painful emotion which makes one of the differences between
youth and maiden man and woman
»Father« said Maggie laying her hand on his »dont you remember that Mr
Riley is dead«
»Dead« said Mr Tulliver sharply looking in her face with a strange
examining glance
»Yes he died of apoplexy nearly a year ago I remember hearing you say you
had to pay money for him and he left his daughters badly off one of them is
underteacher at Miss Firnisss where Ive been to school you know «
»Ah« said her father doubtfully still looking in her face But as soon as
Tom began to speak he turned to look at him with the same inquiring glances as
if he were rather surprised at the presence of these two young people Whenever
his mind was wandering in the far past he fell into this oblivion of their
actual faces they were not those of the lad and the little wench who belonged
to that past
»Its a long while since you had the dispute with Dix father« said Tom »I
remember your talking about it three years ago before I went to school at Mr
Stellings Ive been at school there three years dont you remember«
Mr Tulliver threw himself backward again losing the childlike outward
glance under a rush of new ideas which diverted him from external impressions
»Ay ay« he said after a minute or two »Ive paid a deal o money I
was determined my son should have a good eddication Id none myself and Ive
felt the miss of it And hell want no other fortin thats what I say if
Wakem was to get the better of me again «
The thought of Wakem roused new vibrations and after a moments pause he
began to look at the coat he had on and to feel in his sidepocket Then he
turned to Tom and said in his old sharp way »Where have they put Gores
letter«
It was close at hand in a drawer for he had often asked for it before
»You know what there is in the letter father« said Tom as he gave it to
him
»To be sure I do« said Mr Tulliver rather angrily »What o that If
Furley cant take to the property somebody else can theres plenty o people
in the world besides Furley But its hindering my not being well go and
tell em to get the horse in the gig Luke I can get down to St Oggs well
enough Gores expecting me«
»No dear father« Maggie burst out entreatingly »its a very long while
since all that youve been ill a great many weeks more than two months
everything is changed«
Mr Tulliver looked at them all three alternately with a startled gaze the
idea that much had happened of which he knew nothing had often transiently
arrested him before but it came upon him now with entire novelty
»Yes father« said Tom in answer to the gaze »You neednt trouble your
mind about business until you are quite well everything is settled about that
for the present about the mill and the land and the debts«
»Whats settled then« said his father angrily
»Dont you take on too much about it sir« said Luke »Youd ha paid
iverybody if you could thats what I said to Master Tom I said youd ha
paid iverybody if you could«
Good Luke felt after the manner of contented hardworking men whose lives
have been spent in servitude that sense of natural fitness in rank which made
his masters downfall a tragedy to him He was urged in his slow way to say
something that would express his share in the family sorrow and these words
which he had used over and over again to Tom when he wanted to decline the full
payment of his fifty pounds out of the childrens money were the most ready to
his tongue They were just the words to lay the most painful hold on his
masters bewildered mind
»Paid everybody« he said with vehement agitation his face flushing and
his eye lighting up »Why what have they made me a bankrupt«
»O father dear father« said Maggie who thought that terrible word really
represented the fact »bear it well because we love you your children will
always love you Tom will pay them all he says he will when hes a man«
She felt her father beginning to tremble his voice trembled too as he
said after a few moments
»Ay my little wench but I shall never live twice oer«
»But perhaps you will live to see me pay everybody father« said Tom
speaking with a great effort
»Ah my lad« said Mr Tulliver shaking his head slowly »but whats broke
can never be whole again it ud be your doing not mine« Then looking up at
him »Youre only sixteen its an uphill fight for you but you mustnt
throw it at your father the raskills have been too many for him Ive given you
a good eddication thatll start you«
Something in his throat halfchoked the last words the flush which had
alarmed his children because it had so often preceded a recurrence of paralysis
had subsided and his face looked pale and tremulous Tom said nothing he was
still struggling against his inclination to rush away His father remained quiet
a minute or two but his mind did not seem to be wandering again
»Have they sold me up then« he said more calmly as if he were possessed
simply by the desire to know what had happened
»Everything is sold father but we dont know all about the mill and the
land yet« said Tom anxious to ward off any question leading to the fact that
Wakem was the purchaser
»You must not be surprised to see the room look very bare downstairs
father« said Maggie »but theres your chair and the bureau theyre not
gone«
»Let us go help me down Luke Ill go and see everything« said Mr
Tulliver leaning on his stick and stretching out his other hand towards Luke
»Ay sir« said Luke as he gave his arm to his master »youll make up your
mind tot a bit better when youve seen iverything youll get used tot Thats
what my mother says about her shortness o breath she says shes made friends
wit now though she fought again it sore when it fust come on«
Maggie ran on before to see that all was right in the dreary parlour where
the fire dulled by the frosty sunshine seemed part of the general shabbiness
She turned her fathers chair and pushed aside the table to make an easy way
for him and then stood with a beating heart to see him enter and look round for
the first time Tom advanced before him carrying the legrest and stood beside
Maggie on the hearth Of those two young hearts Toms suffered the most unmixed
pain for Maggie with all her keen susceptibility yet felt as if the sorrow
made larger room for her love to flow in and gave breathingspace to her
passionate nature No true boy feels that he would rather go and slay the
Nemean lion or perform any round of heroic labours than endure perpetual
appeals to his pity for evils over which he can make no conquest
Mr Tulliver paused just inside the door resting on Luke and looking round
him at all the bare places which for him were filled with the shadows of
departed objects the daily companions of his life His faculties seemed to be
renewing their strength from getting a footing on this demonstration of the
senses
»Ah« he said slowly moving towards his chair »theyve sold me up
theyve sold me up«
Then seating himself and laying down his stick while Luke left the room
he looked round again
»Theyve left the big Bible« he said »Its got everything in when I was
born and married bring it me Tom«
The quarto Bible was laid open before him at the flyleaf and while he was
reading with slowlytravelling eyes Mrs Tulliver entered the room but stood
in mute surprise to find her husband down already and with the great Bible
before him
»Ah« he said looking at a spot where his finger rested »my mother was
Margaret Beaton she died when she was fortyseven hers wasnt a longlived
family were our mothers children Gritty and me are we shall go to our
last bed before long«
He seemed to be pausing over the record of his sisters birth and marriage
as if it were suggesting new thoughts to him then he suddenly looked up at Tom
and said in a sharp tone of alarm
»They havent come upo Moss for the money as I lent him have they«
»No father« said Tom »the note was burnt«
Mr Tulliver turned his eyes on the page again and presently said
»Ah Elizabeth Dodson its eighteen year since I married her «
»Come next Ladyday« said Mrs Tulliver going up to his side and looking at
the page
Her husband fixed his eyes earnestly on her face
»Poor Bessy« he said »you was a pretty lass then everybody said so and
I used to think you kept your good looks rarely But youre sorely aged
dont you bear me illwill I meant to do well by you we promised one
another for better or for worse «
»But I never thought it ud be so for worse as this« said poor Mrs
Tulliver with the strange scared look that had come over her of late »and my
poor father gave me away and to come on so all at once «
»O mother« said Maggie »dont talk in that way«
»No I know you wont let your poor mother speak thats been the way all
my life your father never minded what I said it ud have been o no use
for me to beg and pray and it ud be no use now not if I was to go down o
my hands and knees «
»Dont say so Bessy« said Mr Tulliver whose pride in these first
moments of humiliation was in abeyance to the sense of some justice in his
wifes reproach »If theres anything left as I could do to make you amends I
wouldnt say you nay«
»Then we might stay here and get a living and I might keep among my own
sisters and me been such a good wife to you and never crossed you from
weeks end to weeks end and they all say so they say it ud be nothing
but right only youre so turned against Wakem«
»Mother« said Tom severely »this is not the time to talk about that«
»Let her be« said Mr Tulliver »Say what you mean Bessy«
»Why now the mill and the lands all Wakems and hes got everything in
his hands whats the use o setting your face against him when he says you
may stay here and speaks as fair as can be and says you may manage the
business and have thirty shilling aweek and a horse to ride about to market
And where have we got to put our heads We must go into one o the cottages in
the village and me and my children brought down to that and all because
you must set your mind against folks till theres no turning you«
Mr Tulliver had sunk back in his chair trembling
»You may do as you like wi me Bessy« he said in a low voice »Ive been
the bringing of you to poverty this worlds too many for me Im nought
but a bankrupt its no use standing up for anything now«
»Father« said Tom »I dont agree with my mother or my uncles and I dont
think you ought to submit to be under Wakem I get a pound aweek now and you
can find something else to do when you get well«
»Say no more Tom say no more Ive had enough for this day Give me a
kiss Bessy and let us bear one another no illwill we shall never be young
again This worlds been too many for me«
Chapter IX
An Item Added to the Family Register
That first moment of renunciation and submission was followed by days of violent
struggle in the millers mind as the gradual access of bodily strength brought
with it increasing ability to embrace in one view all the conflicting conditions
under which he found himself Feeble limbs easily resign themselves to be
tethered and when we are subdued by sickness it seems possible to us to fulfil
pledges which the old vigour comes back and breaks There were times when poor
Tulliver thought the fulfilment of his promise to Bessy was something quite too
hard for human nature he had promised her without knowing what she was going to
say she might as well have asked him to carry a ton weight on his back But
again there were many feelings arguing on her side besides the sense that life
had been made hard to her by having married him He saw a possibility by much
pinching of saving money out of his salary towards paying a second dividend to
his creditors and it would not be easy elsewhere to get a situation such as he
could fill He had led an easy life ordering much and working little and had
no aptitude for any new business He must perhaps take to daylabour and his
wife must have help from her sisters a prospect doubly bitter to him now they
had let all Bessys precious things be sold probably because they liked to set
her against him by making her feel that he had brought her to that pass He
listened to their admonitory talk when they came to urge on him what he was
bound to do for poor Bessys sake with averted eyes that every now and then
flashed on them furtively when their backs were turned Nothing but the dread of
needing their help could have made it an easier alternative to take their
advice
But the strongest influence of all was the love of the old premises where he
had run about when he was a boy just as Tom had done after him The Tullivers
had lived on this spot for generations and he had sat listening on a low stool
on winter evenings while his father talked of the old halftimbered mill that
had been there before the last great floods which damaged it so that his
grandfather pulled it down and built the new one It was when he got able to
walk about and look at all the old objects that he felt the strain of this
clinging affection for the old home as part of his life part of himself He
couldnt bear to think of himself living on any other spot than this where he
knew the sound of every gate and door and felt that the shape and colour of
every roof and weatherstain and broken hillock was good because his growing
senses had been fed on them Our instructed vagrancy which has hardly time to
linger by the hedgerows but runs away early to the tropics and is at home with
palms and banyans which is nourished on books of travel and stretches the
theatre of its imagination to the Zambesi can hardly get a dim notion of what
an oldfashioned man like Tulliver felt for this spot where all his memories
centred and where life seemed like a familiar smoothhandled tool that the
fingers clutch with loving ease And just now he was living in that freshened
memory of the faroff time which comes to us in the passive hours of recovery
from sickness
»Ay Luke« he said one afternoon as he stood looking over the orchard
gate »I remember the day they planted those appletrees My father was a huge
man for planting it was like a merrymaking to him to get a cart full o young
trees and I used to stand i the cold with him and follow him about like a
dog«
Then he turned round and leaning against the gatepost looked at the
opposite buildings
»The old mill ud miss me I think Luke Theres a story as when the mill
changes hands the rivers angry Ive heard my father say it many a time
Theres no telling whether there maynt be summat in the story for this is a
puzzling world and Old Harrys got a finger in it its been too many for me
I know«
»Ay sir« said Luke with soothing sympathy »what wi the rust on the
wheat an the firin o the ricks an that as Ive seen i my time things
often looks comical theres the bacon fat wi our last pig runs away like
butter it leaves nought but a scratchin«
»Its just as if it was yesterday now« Mr Tulliver went on »when my
father began the malting I remember the day they finished the malthouse I
thought summat great was to come of it for wed a plumpudding that day and a
bit of a feast and I said to my mother she was a fine darkeyed woman my
mother was the little wench ull be as like her as two peas« Here Mr
Tulliver put his stick between his legs and took out his snuffbox for the
greater enjoyment of this anecdote which dropped from him in fragments as if
he every other moment lost narration in vision »I was a little chap no higher
much than my mothers knee she was sore fond of us children Gritty and me
and so I said to her Mother I said shall we have plumpudding every day
because o the malthouse She used to tell me o that till her dying day She
was but a young woman when she died my mother was But its forty good year
since they finished the malthouse and it isnt many days out of em all as I
havent looked out into the yard there the first thing in the morning all
weathers from years end to years end I should go off my head in a new place
I should be like as if Id lost my way Its all hard whichever way I look at
it the harness ull gall me but it ud be summat to draw along the old road
instead of a new un«
»Ay sir« said Luke »youd be a deal better here nor in some new place I
cant abide new places mysen things is allays awkard narrowwheeled waggins
belike and the stiles all another sort an oatcake i some places towrt th
head o the Floss there Its poor work changing your countryside«
»But I doubt Luke theyll be for getting rid o Ben and making you do
with a lad and I must help a bit wi the mill Youll have a worse place«
»Neer mind sir« said Luke »I shant plague mysen In been wi you
twenty year an you cant get twenty year wi whistlin for em no more nor
you can make the trees grow you mun wait till God Amighty sends em I cant
abide new victual nor new faces I cant you niver know but what theyll gripe
you«
The walk was finished in silence after this for Luke had disburthened
himself of thoughts to an extent that left his conversational resources quite
barren and Mr Tulliver had relapsed from his recollections into a painful
meditation on the choice of hardships before him Maggie noticed that he was
unusually absent that evening at tea and afterwards he sat leaning forward in
his chair looking at the ground moving his lips and shaking his head from
time to time Then he looked hard at Mrs Tulliver who was knitting opposite
him then at Maggie who as she bent over her sewing was intensely conscious
of some drama going forward in her fathers mind Suddenly he took up the poker
and broke the large coal fiercely
»Dear heart Mr Tulliver what can you be thinking of« said his wife
looking up in alarm »its very wasteful breaking the coal and weve got
hardly any large coal left and I dont know where the rest is to come from«
»I dont think youre quite so well tonight are you father« said Maggie
»you seem uneasy«
»Why how is it Tom doesnt come« said Mr Tulliver impatiently
»Dear heart is it time I must go and get his supper« said Mrs Tulliver
laying down her knitting and leaving the room
»Its nigh upon halfpast eight« said Mr Tulliver »Hell be here soon
Go go and get the big Bible and open it at the beginning where everythings
set down And get the pen and ink«
Maggie obeyed wondering but her father gave no further orders and only
sat listening for Toms footfall on the gravel apparently irritated by the
wind which had risen and was roaring so as to drown all other sounds There
was a strange light in his eyes that rather frightened Maggie she began to wish
that Tom would come too
»There he is then« said Mr Tulliver in an excited way when the knock
came at last Maggie went to open the door but her mother came out of the
kitchen hurriedly saying »Stop a bit Maggie Ill open it«
Mrs Tulliver had begun to be a little frightened at her boy but she was
jealous of every office others did for him
»Your suppers ready by the kitchenfire my boy« she said as he took off
his hat and coat »You shall have it by yourself just as you like and I wont
speak to you«
»I think my father wants Tom mother« said Maggie »he must come into the
parlour first«
Tom entered with his usual saddened evening face but his eyes fell
immediately on the open Bible and the inkstand and he glanced with a look of
anxious surprise at his father who was saying
»Come come youre late I want you«
»Is there anything the matter father« said Tom
»You sit down all of you« said Mr Tulliver peremptorily »And Tom sit
down here Ive got something for you to write i the Bible«
They all three sat down looking at him He began to speak slowly looking
first at his wife
»Ive made up my mind Bessy and Ill be as good as my word to you
Therell be the same grave made for us to lie down in and we mustnt be bearing
one another illwill Ill stop in the old place and Ill serve under Wakem
and Ill serve him like an honest man theres no Tulliver but whats honest
mind that Tom« here his voice rose »theyll have it to throw up against me
as I paid a dividend but it wasnt my fault it was because theres raskills
in the world Theyve been too many for me and I must give in Ill put my neck
in harness for youve a right to say as Ive brought you into trouble Bessy
and Ill serve him as honest as if he was no raskill Im an honest man though
I shall never hold my head up no more Im a tree as is broke a tree as is
broke«
He paused and looked on the ground Then suddenly raising his head he
said in a louder yet deeper tone
»But I wont forgive him I know what they say he never meant me any harm
thats the way Old Harry props up the raskills hes been at the bottom of
everything but hes a fine gentleman I know I know I shouldnt ha gone to
law they say But who made it so as there was no arbitratin and no justice to
be got It signifies nothing to him I know that hes one o them fine
gentlemen as get money by doing business for poorer folks and when hes made
beggars of em hell give em charity I wont forgive him I wish he might be
punished with shame till his own son ud like to forget him I wish he may do
summat as theyd make him work at the treadmill But he wont hes too big a
raskill to let the law ay hold on him And you mind this Tom you never
forgive him neither if you mean to be my son Therell maybe come a time when
you may make him feel itll never come to me n got my head under the yoke
Now write write it i the Bible«
»O father what« said Maggie sinking down by his knee pale and trembling
»Its wicked to curse and bear malice«
»It isnt wicked I tell you« said her father fiercely »Its wicked as
the raskills should prosper its the devils doing Do as I tell you Tom
Write«
»What am I to write father« said Tom with gloomy submission
»Write as your father Edward Tulliver took service under John Wakem the
man as had helped to ruin him because Id promised my wife to make her what
amends I could for her trouble and because I wanted to die in th old place
where I was born and my father was born Put that i the right words you know
how and then write as I dont forgive Wakem for all that and for all Ill
serve him hones I wish evil may befall him Write that«
There was a dead silence as Toms pen moved along the paper Mrs Tulliver
looked scared and Maggie trembled like a leaf
»Now let me hear what youve wrote« said Mr Tulliver Tom read aloud
slowly
»Now write write as youll remember what Wakems done to your father and
youll make him and his feel it if ever the day comes And sign your name
Thomas Tulliver«
»O no father dear father« said Maggie almost choked with fear »You
shouldnt make Tom write that«
»Be quiet Maggie« said Tom »I shall write it«
Book Fourth
The Valley of Humiliation
Chapter I
A Variation of Protestantism Unknown to Bossuet
Journeying down the Rhone on a summers day you have perhaps felt the sunshine
made dreary by those ruined villages which stud the banks in certain parts of
its course telling how the swift river once rose like an angry destroying
god sweeping down the feeble generations whose breath is in their nostrils and
making their dwellings a desolation Strange contrast you may have thought
between the effect produced on us by these dismal remnants of commonplace
houses which in their best days were but the sign of a sordid life belonging
in all its details to our own vulgar era and the effect produced by those ruins
on the castled Rhine which have crumbled and mellowed into such harmony with
the green and rocky steeps that they seem to have a natural fitness like the
mountainpine nay even in the day when they were built they must have had this
fitness as if they had been raised by an earthborn race who had inherited
from their mighty parent a sublime instinct of form And that was a day of
romance If those robberbarons were somewhat grim and drunken ogres they had a
certain grandeur of the wild beast in them they were forest boars with tusks
tearing and rending not the ordinary domestic grunter they represented the
demon forces for ever in collision with beauty virtue and the gentle uses of
life they made a fine contrast in the picture with the wandering minstrel the
softlipped princess the pious recluse and the timid Israelite That was a
time of colour when the sunlight fell on glancing steel and floating banners a
time of adventure and fierce struggle nay of living religious art and
religious enthusiasm for were not cathedrals built in those days and did not
great emperors leave their Western palaces to die before the infidel strongholds
in the sacred East Therefore it is that these Rhine castles thrill me with a
sense of poetry they belong to the grand historic life of humanity and raise
up for me the vision of an epoch But these deadtinted holloweyed angular
skeletons of villages on the Rhone oppress me with the feeling that human life
very much of it is a narrow ugly grovelling existence which even calamity
does not elevate but rather tends to exhibit in all its bare vulgarity of
conception and I have a cruel conviction that the lives these ruins are the
traces of were part of a gross sum of obscure vitality that will be swept into
the same oblivion with the generations of ants and beavers
Perhaps something akin to this oppressive feeling may have weighed upon you
in watching this oldfashioned family life on the banks of the Floss which even
sorrow hardly suffices to lift above the level of the tragicomic It is a
sordid life you say this of the Tullivers and Dodsons irradiated by no
sublime principles no romantic visions no active selfrenouncing faith
moved by none of those wild uncontrollable passions which create the dark
shadows of misery and crime without that primitive rough simplicity of wants
that hard submissive illpaid toil that childlike spellingout of what nature
has written which gives its poetry to peasant life Here one has conventional
worldly notions and habits without instruction and without polish surely the
most prosaic form of human life proud respectability in a gig of unfashionable
build worldliness without sidedishes Observing these people narrowly even
when the iron hand of misfortune has shaken them from their unquestioning hold
on the world one sees little trace of religion still less of a distinctively
Christian creed Their belief in the Unseen so far as it manifests itself at
all seems to be rather of a pagan kind their moral notions though held with
strong tenacity seem to have no standard beyond hereditary custom You could
not live among such people you are stifled for want of an outlet towards
something beautiful great or noble you are irritated with these dull men and
women as a kind of population out of keeping with the earth on which they live
with this rich plain where the great river flows for ever onward and links
the small pulse of the old English town with the beatings of the worlds mighty
heart A vigorous superstition that lashes its gods or lashes its own back
seems to be more congruous with the mystery of the human lot than the mental
condition of these emmetlike Dodsons and Tullivers
I share with you this sense of oppressive narrowness but it is necessary
that we should feel it if we care to understand how it acted on the lives of
Tom and Maggie how it has acted on young natures in many generations that in
the onward tendency of human things have risen above the mental level of the
generation before them to which they have been nevertheless tied by the
strongest fibres of their hearts The suffering whether of martyr or victim
which belongs to every historical advance of mankind is represented in this way
in every town and by hundreds of obscure hearths and we need not shrink from
this comparison of small things with great for does not science tell us that
its highest striving is after the ascertainment of a unity which shall bind the
smallest things with the greatest In natural science I have understood there
is nothing petty to the mind that has a large vision of relations and to which
every single object suggests a vast sum of conditions It is surely the same
with the observation of human life
Certainly the religious and moral ideas of the Dodsons and Tullivers were of
too specific a kind to be arrived at deductively from the statement that they
were part of the Protestant population of Great Britain Their theory of life
had its core of soundness as all theories must have on which decent and
prosperous families have been reared and have flourished but it had the very
slightest tincture of theology If in the maiden days of the Dodson sisters
their Bibles opened more easily at some parts than others it was because of
dried tulippetals which had been distributed quite impartially without
preference for the historical devotional or doctrinal Their religion was of a
simple semipagan kind but there was no heresy in it if heresy properly
means choice for they didnt know there was any other religion except that of
chapelgoers which appeared to run in families like asthma How should they
know The vicar of their pleasant rural parish was not a controversialist but a
good hand at whist and one who had a joke always ready for a blooming female
parishioner The religion of the Dodsons consisted in revering whatever was
customary and respectable it was necessary to be baptised else one could not
be buried in the churchyard and to take the sacrament before death as a
security against more dimly understood perils but it was of equal necessity to
have the proper pallbearers and wellcured hams at ones funeral and to leave
an unimpeachable will A Dodson would not be taxed with the omission of anything
that was becoming or that belonged to that eternal fitness of things which was
plainly indicated in the practice of the most substantial parishioners and in
the family traditions such as obedience to parents faithfulness to kindred
industry rigid honesty thrift the thorough scouring of wooden and copper
utensils the hoarding of coins likely to disappear from the currency the
production of firstrate commodities for the market and the general preference
for whatever was homemade The Dodsons were a very proud race and their pride
lay in the utter frustration of all desire to tax them with a breach of
traditional duty or propriety A wholesome pride in many respects since it
identified honour with perfect integrity thoroughness of work and faithfulness
to admitted rules and society owes some worthy qualities in many of her members
to mothers of the Dodson class who made their butter and their fromenty well
and would have felt disgraced to make it otherwise To be honest and poor was
never a Dodson motto still less to seem rich though being poor rather the
family badge was to be honest and rich and not only rich but richer than was
supposed To live respected and have the proper bearers at your funeral was an
achievement of the ends of existence that would be entirely nullified if on the
reading of your will you sank in the opinion of your fellowmen either by
turning out to be poorer than they expected or by leaving your money in a
capricious manner without strict regard to degrees of kin The right thing must
always be done towards kindred The right thing was to correct them severely if
they were other than a credit to the family but still not to alienate from them
the smallest rightful share in the family shoebuckles and other property A
conspicuous quality in the Dodson character was its genuineness its vices and
virtues alike were phases of a proud honest egoism which had a hearty dislike
to whatever made against its own credit and interest and would be frankly hard
of speech to inconvenient »kin« but would never forsake or ignore them would
not let them want bread but only require them to eat it with bitter herbs
The same sort of traditional belief ran in the Tulliver veins but it was
carried in richer blood having elements of generous imprudence warm affection
and hottempered rashness Mr Tullivers grandfather had been heard to say that
he was descended from one Ralph Tulliver a wonderfully clever fellow who had
ruined himself It is likely enough that the clever Ralph was a high liver rode
spirited horses and was very decidedly of his own opinion On the other hand
nobody had ever heard of a Dodson who had ruined himself it was not the way of
that family
If such were the views of life on which the Dodsons and Tullivers had been
reared in the praiseworthy past of Pitt and high prices you will infer from
what you already know concerning the state of society in St Oggs that there
had been no highly modifying influence to act on them in their maturer life It
was still possible even in that later time of antiCatholic preaching for
people to hold many pagan ideas and believe themselves good churchpeople
notwithstanding so we need hardly feel any surprise at the fact that Mr
Tulliver though a regular churchgoer recorded his vindictiveness on the
flyleaf of his Bible It was not that any harm could be said concerning the
vicar of that charming rural parish to which Dorlcote Mill belonged he was a
man of excellent family an irreproachable bachelor of elegant pursuits had
taken honours and held a fellowship Mr Tulliver regarded him with dutiful
respect as he did everything else belonging to the churchservice but he
considered that church was one thing and commonsense another and he wanted
nobody to tell him what commonsense was Certain seeds which are required to
find a nidus for themselves under unfavourable circumstances have been supplied
by nature with an apparatus of hooks so that they will get a hold on very
unreceptive surfaces The spiritual seed which had been scattered over Mr
Tulliver had apparently been destitute of any corresponding provision and had
slipped off to the winds again from a total absence of hooks
Chapter II
The Torn Nest Is Pierced by the Thorns
There is something sustaining in the very agitation that accompanies the first
shocks of trouble just as an acute pain is often a stimulus and produces an
excitement which is transient strength It is in the slow changed life that
follows in the time when sorrow has become stale and has no longer an emotive
intensity that counteracts its pain in the time when day follows day in dull
unexpectant sameness and trial is a dreary routine it is then that despair
threatens it is then that the peremptory hunger of the soul is felt and eye
and ear are strained after some unlearned secret of our existence which shall
give to endurance the nature of satisfaction
This time of utmost need was come to Maggie with her short span of thirteen
years To the usual precocity of the girl she added that early experience of
struggle of conflict between the inward impulse and outward fact which is the
lot of every imaginative and passionate nature and the years since she hammered
the nails into her wooden Fetish among the wormeaten shelves of the attic had
been filled with so eager a life in the triple world of Reality Books and
Waking Dreams that Maggie was strangely old for her years in everything except
in her entire want of that prudence and selfcommand which were the qualities
that made Tom manly in the midst of his intellectual boyishness And now her lot
was beginning to have a still sad monotony which threw her more than ever on
her inward self Her father was able to attend to business again his affairs
were settled and he was acting as Wakems manager on the old spot Tom went to
and fro every morning and evening and became more and more silent in the short
intervals at home what was there to say One day was like another and Toms
interest in life driven back and crushed on every other side was concentrating
itself into the one channel of ambitious resistance to misfortune The
peculiarities of his father and mother were very irksome to him now they were
laid bare of all the softening accompaniments of an easy prosperous home for
Tom had very clear prosaic eyes not apt to be dimmed by mists of feeling or
imagination Poor Mrs Tulliver it seemed would never recover her old self
her placid household activity how could she The objects among which her mind
had moved complacently were all gone all the little hopes and schemes and
speculations all the pleasant little cares about her treasures which had made
the world quite comprehensible to her for a quarter of a century since she had
made her first purchase of the sugartongs had been suddenly snatched away from
her and she remained bewildered in this empty life Why that should have
happened to her which had not happened to other women remained an insoluble
question by which she expressed her perpetual ruminating comparison of the past
with the present It was piteous to see the comely woman getting thinner and
more worn under a bodily as well as mental restlessness which made her often
wander about the empty house after her work was done until Maggie becoming
alarmed about her would seek her and bring her down by telling her how it
vexed Tom that she was injuring her health by never sitting down and resting
herself Yet amidst this helpless imbecility there was a touching trait of
humble selfdevoting maternity which made Maggie feel tenderly towards her poor
mother amidst all the little wearing griefs caused by her mental feebleness She
would let Maggie do none of the work that was heaviest and most soiling to the
hands and was quite peevish when Maggie attempted to relieve her from her
gratebrushing and scouring »Let it alone my dear your hands ull get as hard
as hard« she would say »its your mothers place to do that I cant do the
sewing my eyes fail me« And she would still brush and carefully tend Maggies
hair which she had become reconciled to in spite of its refusal to curl now
it was so long and massy Maggie was not her pet child and in general would
have been much better if she had been quite different yet the womanly heart so
bruised in its small personal desires found a future to rest on in the life of
this young thing and the mother pleased herself with wearing out her own hands
to save the hands that had so much more life in them
But the constant presence of her mothers regretful bewilderment was less
painful to Maggie than that of her fathers sullen incommunicative depression
As long as the paralysis was upon him and it seemed as if he might always be in
a childlike condition of dependence as long as he was still only halfawakened
to his trouble Maggie had felt the strong tide of pitying love almost as an
inspiration a new power that would make the most difficult life easy for his
sake but now instead of childlike dependence there had come a taciturn hard
concentration of purpose in strange contrast with his old vehement
communicativeness and high spirit and this lasted from day to day and from
week to week the dull eye never brightening with any eagerness or any joy It
is something cruelly incomprehensible to youthful natures this sombre sameness
in middleaged and elderly people whose life has resulted in disappointment and
discontent to whose faces a smile becomes so strange that the sad lines all
about the lips and brow seem to take no notice of it and it hurries away again
for want of a welcome »Why will they not kindle up and be glad sometimes«
thinks young elasticity »It would be so easy if they only liked to do it« And
these leaden clouds that never part are apt to create impatience even in the
filial affection that streams forth in nothing but tenderness and pity in the
time of more obvious affliction
Mr Tulliver lingered nowhere away from home he hurried away from market
he refused all invitations to stay and chat as in old times in the houses
where he called on business He could not be reconciled with his lot there was
no attitude in which his pride did not feel its bruises and in all behaviour
towards him whether kind or cold he detected an allusion to the change in his
circumstances Even the days on which Wakem came to ride round the land and
inquire into the business were not so black to him as those marketdays on
which he had met several creditors who had accepted a composition from him To
save something towards the repayment of those creditors was the object towards
which he was now bending all his thoughts and efforts and under the influence
of this allcompelling demand of his nature the somewhat profuse man who hated
to be stinted or to stint any one else in his own house was gradually
metamorphosed into the keeneyed grudger of morsels Mrs Tulliver could not
economise enough to satisfy him in their food and firing and he would eat
nothing himself but what was of the coarsest quality Tom though depressed and
strongly repelled by his fathers sullenness and the dreariness of home
entered thoroughly into his fathers feelings about paying the creditors and
the poor lad brought his first quarters money with a delicious sense of
achievement and gave it to his father to put into the tin box which held the
savings The little store of sovereigns in the tin box seemed to be the only
sight that brought a faint beam of pleasure into the millers eyes faint and
transient for it was soon dispelled by the thought that the time would be long
perhaps longer than his life before the narrow savings could remove the
hateful incubus of debt A deficit of more than five hundred pounds with the
accumulating interest seemed a deep pit to fill with the savings from thirty
shillings aweek even when Toms probable savings were to be added On this one
point there was entire community of feeling in the four widely differing beings
who sat round the dying fire of sticks which made a cheap warmth for them on
the verge of bedtime Mrs Tulliver carried the proud integrity of the Dodsons
in her blood and had been brought up to think that to wrong people of their
money which was another phrase for debt was a sort of moral pillory it would
have been wickedness to her mind to have run counter to her husbands desire
to »do the right thing« and retrieve his name She had a confused dreamy notion
that if the creditors were all paid her plate and linen ought to come back to
her but she had an inbred perception that while people owed money they were
unable to pay they couldnt rightly call anything their own She murmured a
little that Mr Tulliver so peremptorily refused to receive anything in
repayment from Mr and Mrs Moss but to all his requirements of household
economy she was submissive to the point of denying herself the cheapest
indulgences of mere flavour her only rebellion was to smuggle into the kitchen
something that would make rather a better supper than usual for Tom
These narrow notions about debt held by the oldfashioned Tullivers may
perhaps excite a smile on the faces of many readers in these days of wide
commercial views and wide philosophy according to which everything rights
itself without any trouble of ours the fact that my tradesman is out of pocket
by me is to be looked at through the serene certainty that somebody elses
tradesman is in pocket by somebody else and since there must be bad debts in
the world why it is mere egoism not to like that we in particular should make
them instead of our fellowcitizens I am telling the history of very simple
people who had never had any illuminating doubts as to personal integrity and
honour
Under all this grim melancholy and narrowing concentration of desire Mr
Tulliver retained the feeling towards his »little wench« which made her presence
a need to him though it would not suffice to cheer him She was still the
desire of his eyes but the sweet spring of fatherly love was now mingled with
bitterness like everything else When Maggie laid down her work at night it
was her habit to get a low stool and sit by her fathers knee leaning her cheek
against it How she wished he would stroke her head or give some sign that he
was soothed by the sense that he had a daughter who loved him But now she got
no answer to her little caresses either from her father or from Tom the two
idols of her life Tom was weary and abstracted in the short intervals when he
was at home and her father was bitterly preoccupied with the thought that the
girl was growing up was shooting up into a woman and how was she to do well
in life She had a poor chance for marrying down in the world as they were And
he hated the thought of her marrying poorly as her aunt Gritty had done that
would be a thing to make him turn in his grave the little wench so pulled down
by children and toil as her aunt Moss was When uncultured minds confined to a
narrow range of personal experience are under the pressure of continued
misfortune their inward life is apt to become a perpetually repeated round of
sad and bitter thoughts the same words the same scenes are revolved over and
over again the same mood accompanies them the end of the year finds them as
much what they were at the beginning as if they were machines set to a recurrent
series of movements
The sameness of the days was broken by few visitors Uncles and aunts paid
only short visits now of course they could not stay to meals and the
constraint caused by Mr Tullivers savage silence which seemed to add to the
hollow resonance of the bare uncarpeted room when the aunts were talking
heightened the unpleasantness of these family visits on all sides and tended to
make them rare As for other acquaintances there is a chill air surrounding
those who are down in the world and people are glad to get away from them as
from a cold room human beings mere men and women without furniture without
anything to offer you who have ceased to count as anybody present an
embarrassing negation of reasons for wishing to see them or of subjects on
which to converse with them At that distant day there was a dreary isolation
in the civilised Christian society of these realms for families that had dropped
below their original level unless they belonged to a sectarian church which
gets some warmth of brotherhood by walling in the sacred fire
Chapter III
A Voice from the Past
One afternoon when the chestnuts were coming into flower Maggie had brought
her chair outside the front door and was seated there with a book on her knees
Her dark eyes had wandered from the book but they did not seem to be enjoying
the sunshine which pierced the screen of jasmine on the projecting porch at her
right and threw leafy shadows on her pale round cheek they seemed rather to be
searching for something that was not disclosed by the sunshine It had been a
more miserable day than usual her father after a visit of Wakems had had a
paroxysm of rage in which for some trifling fault he had beaten the boy who
served in the mill Once before since his illness he had had a similar
paroxysm in which he had beaten his horse and the scene had left a lasting
terror in Maggies mind The thought had risen that some time or other he might
beat her mother if she happened to speak in her feeble way at the wrong moment
The keenest of all dread with her was lest her father should add to his present
misfortune the wretchedness of doing something irretrievably disgraceful The
battered schoolbook of Toms which she held on her knees could give her no
fortitude under the pressure of that dread and again and again her eyes had
filled with tears as they wandered vaguely seeing neither the chestnuttrees
nor the distant horizon but only future scenes of homesorrow
Suddenly she was roused by the sound of the opening gate and of footsteps on
the gravel It was not Tom who was entering but a man in a sealskin cap and a
blue plush waistcoat carrying a pack on his back and followed closely by a
bullterrier of brindled coat and defiant aspect
»O Bob its you« said Maggie starting up with a smile of pleased
recognition for there had been no abundance of kind acts to efface the
recollection of Bobs generosity »Im so glad to see you«
»Thank you Miss« said Bob lifting his cap and showing a delighted face
but immediately relieving himself of some accompanying embarrassment by looking
down at his dog and saying in a tone of disgust »Get out wi you you
thunderin sawney«
»My brother is not at home yet Bob« said Maggie »he is always at St Oggs
in the daytime«
»Well Miss« said Bob »I should be glad to see Mr Tom but that isnt
just what Im come for look here«
Bob was in the act of depositing his pack on the doorstep and with it a
row of small books fastened together with string Apparently however they were
not the object to which he wished to call Maggies attention but rather
something which he had carried under his arm wrapped in a red handkerchief
»See here« he said again laying the red parcel on the others and unfolding
it »you wont think Im amakin too free Miss I hope but I lighted on these
books and I thought they might make up to you a bit for them as youve lost
for I heared you speak o picturs an as for picturs look here«
The opening of the red handkerchief had disclosed a superannuated »Keepsake«
and six or seven numbers of a »Portrait Gallery« in royal octavo and the
emphatic request to look referred to a portrait of George the Fourth in all the
majesty of his depressed cranium and voluminous neckcloth
»Theres all sorts o genelmen here« Bob went on turning over the leaves
with some excitement »wi all sorts o noses an some bald an some wi wigs
Parlament genelmen I reckon An here« he added opening the »Keepsake« »
heres ladies for you some wi curly hair and some wi smooth an some
asmiling wi their heads o one side an some as if they was goin to cry
look here asittin on the ground out o door dressed like the ladies In
seen get out o the carriages at the balls in th Old Hall there My eyes I
wonder what the chaps wear as go acourtin em I sot up till the clock was gone
twelve last night alookin at em I did till they stared at me out o the
picturs as if theyd know when I spoke to em But lors I shouldnt know what
to say to em Theyll be more fittin company for you Miss and the man at the
bookstall he said they banged iverything for picturs he said they was a
fustrate article«
»And youve bought them for me Bob« said Maggie deeply touched by this
simple kindness »How very very good of you But Im afraid you gave a great
deal of money for them«
»Not me« said Bob »Id ha gev three times the money if theyll make up to
you a bit for them as was sold away from you Miss For In niver forgot how you
looked when you fretted about the books bein gone its stuck by me as if it
was a pictur hingin before me An when I seed the book open upo the stall
wi the lady lookin out of it wi eyes a bit like yourn when you was frettin
youll excuse my takin the liberty Miss I thought Id make free to buy it
for you an then I bought the books full o genelmen to match an then«
here Bob took up the small stringed packet of books »I thought you might like
a bit more print as well as the picturs an I got these for a sayso theyre
cramfull o print an I thought theyd do no harm comin along wi these
bettermost books An I hope you wont say me nay an tell me as you wont have
em like Mr Tom did wi the suvreigns«
»No indeed Bob« said Maggie »Im very thankful to you for thinking of
me and being so good to me and Tom I dont think any one ever did such a kind
thing for me before I havent many friends who care for me«
»Hev a dog Miss theyre better friends nor any Christian« said Bob
laying down his pack again which he had taken up with the intention of hurrying
away for he felt considerable shyness in talking to a young lass like Maggie
though as he usually said of himself »his tongue overrun him« when he began to
speak »I cant give you Mumps cause hed break his heart to go away from me
eh Mumps what do you say you riffraff« Mumps declined to express himself
more diffusely than by a single affirmative movement of his tail »But Id get
you a pup Miss an welcome«
»No thank you Bob We have a yard dog and I maynt keep a dog of my own«
»Eh thats a pity else theres a pup if you didnt mind about it not
being thoroughbred its mother acts in the Punch show an uncommon sensable
bitch she means more sense wi her bark nor half the chaps can put into their
talk from breakfast to sundown Theres one chap carries pots a poor low
trade as any on the road he says Why Tobys nought but a mongrel theres
nought to look at in her But I says to him Why what are you yoursen but a
mongrel There wasnt much pickin o your feyther an mother to look at you
Not but what I like a bit o breed myself but I cant abide to see one cur
grinnin at another I wish you goodevenin Miss« added Bob abruptly taking
up his pack again under the consciousness that his tongue was acting in an
undisciplined manner
»Wont you come in the evening some time and see my brother Bob« said
Maggie
»Yes Miss thank you another time Youll give my duty to him if you
please Eh hes a fine growed chap Mr Tom is he took to growin i the legs
an I didnt«
The pack was down again now the hook of the stick having somehow gone
wrong
»You dont call Mumps a cur I suppose« said Maggie divining that any
interest she showed in Mumps would be gratifying to his master
»No Miss a fine way off that« said Bob with a pitying smile »Mumps is
as fine a cross as youll see anywhere along the Floss an In been up it wi
the barge times enow Why the gentry stops to look at him but you wont catch
Mumps alooking at the gentry much he minds his own business he does«
The expression of Mumpss face which seemed to be tolerating the
superfluous existence of objects in general was strongly confirmatory of this
high praise
»He looks dreadfully surly« said Maggie »Would he let me pat him«
»Ay that would he and thank you He knows his company Mumps does He
isnt a dog as ull be caught wi gingerbread hed smell a thief a good deal
stronger nor the gingerbread he would Lors I talk to him by th hour
together when Im walking i lone places and if In done a bit o mischief I
allays tell him In got no secrets but what Mumps knows em He knows about my
big thumb he does«
»Your big thumb whats that Bob« said Maggie
»Thats what it is Miss« said Bob quickly exhibiting a singularly broad
specimen of that difference between the man and the monkey »It tells i
measuring out the flannel you see I carry flannel cause its light for my
pack an its dear stuff you see so a big thumb tells I clap my thumb at the
end o the yard and cut o the hither side of it and the old women arent up
tot«
»But Bob« said Maggie looking serious »thats cheating I dont like to
hear you say that«
»Dont you Miss« said Bob regretfully »Then Im sorry I said it But Im
so used to talking to Mumps an he doesnt mind a bit o cheating when its
them skinflint women as haggle an haggle an ud like to get their flannel
for nothing an ud niver ask theirselves how I got my dinner out ont I niver
cheat anybody as doesnt want to cheat me Misslors Im a honest chap I am
only I must hev a bit o sport an now I dont go wi the ferrets In got no
varmint to come over but them haggling women I wish you goodevening Miss«
»Goodbye Bob Thank you very much for bringing me the books And come
again to see Tom«
»Yes Miss« said Bob moving on a few steps then turning half round he
said »Ill leave off that trick wi my big thumb if you dont think well on me
for it Miss but it ud be a pity it would I couldnt find another trick so
good an what ud be the use o havin a big thumb It might as well ha been
narrow«
Maggie thus exalted into Bobs directing Madonna laughed in spite of
herself at which her worshippers blue eyes twinkled too and under these
favouring auspices he touched his cap and walked away
The days of chivalry are not gone notwithstanding Burkes grand dirge over
them they live still in that faroff worship paid by many a youth and man to
the woman of whom he never dreams that he shall touch so much as her little
finger or the hem of her robe Bob with the pack on his back had as respectful
an adoration for this darkeyed maiden as if he had been a knight in armour
calling aloud on her name as he pricked on to the fight
That gleam of merriment soon died away from Maggies face and perhaps only
made the returning gloom deeper by contrast She was too dispirited even to like
answering questions about Bobs present of books and she carried them away to
her bedroom laying them down there and seating herself on her one stool
without caring to look at them just yet She leaned her cheek against the
windowframe and thought that the lighthearted Bob had a lot much happier than
hers
Maggies sense of loneliness and utter privation of joy had deepened with
the brightness of advancing spring All the favourite outdoor nooks about home
which seemed to have done their part with her parents in nurturing and
cherishing her were now mixed up with the homesadness and gathered no smile
from the sunshine Every affection every delight the poor child had had was
like an aching nerve to her There was no music for her any more no piano no
harmonised voices no delicious stringed instruments with their passionate
cries of imprisoned spirits sending a strange vibration through her frame And
of all her schoollife there was nothing left her now but her little collection
of schoolbooks which she turned over with a sickening sense that she knew them
all and they were all barren of comfort Even at school she had often wished
for books with more in them everything she learned there seemed like the ends
of long threads that snapped immediately And now without the indirect charm
of schoolemulation Télémaque was mere bran so were the hard dry questions on
Christian Doctrine there was no flavour in them no strength Sometimes Maggie
thought she could have been contented with absorbing fancies if she could have
had all Scotts novels and all Byrons poems then perhaps she might have
found happiness enough to dull her sensibility to her actual daily life And yet
they were hardly what she wanted She could make dreamworlds of her own
but no dreamworld would satisfy her now She wanted some explanation of this
hard real life the unhappylooking father seated at the dull breakfasttable
the childish bewildered mother the little sordid tasks that filled the hours
or the more oppressive emptiness of weary joyless leisure the need of some
tender demonstrative love the cruel sense that Tom didnt mind what she
thought or felt and that they were no longer playfellows together the
privation of all pleasant things that had come to her more than to others she
wanted some key that would enable her to understand and in understanding
endure the heavy weight that had fallen on her young heart If she had been
taught »real learning and wisdom such as great men knew« she thought she
should have held the secrets of life if she had only books that she might
learn for herself what wise men knew Saints and martyrs had never interested
Maggie so much as sages and poets She knew little of saints and martyrs and
had gathered as a general result of her teaching that they were a temporary
provision against the spread of Catholicism and had all died at Smithfield
In one of these meditations it occurred to her that she had forgotten Toms
schoolbooks which had been sent home in his trunk But she found the stock
unaccountably shrunk down to the few old ones which had been well thumbed the
Latin Dictionary and Grammar a Delectus a torn Eutropius the wellworn
Virgil Aldrichs Logic and the exasperating Euclid Still Latin Euclid and
Logic would surely be a considerable step in masculine wisdom in that
knowledge which made men contented and even glad to live Not that the yearning
for effectual wisdom was quite unmixed a certain mirage would now and then rise
on the desert of the future in which she seemed to see herself honoured for her
surprising attainments And so the poor child with her souls hunger and her
illusions of selfflattery began to nibble at this thickrinded fruit of the
tree of knowledge filling her vacant hours with Latin geometry and the forms
of the syllogism and feeling a gleam of triumph now and then that her
understanding was quite equal to these peculiarly masculine studies For a week
or two she went on resolutely enough though with an occasional sinking of
heart as if she had set out toward the Promised Land alone and found it a
thirsty trackless uncertain journey In the severity of her early resolution
she would take Aldrich out into the fields and then look off her book towards
the sky where the lark was twinkling or to the reeds and bushes by the river
from which the waterfowl rustled forth on its anxious awkward flight with a
startled sense that the relation between Aldrich and this living world was
extremely remote for her The discouragement deepened as the days went on and
the eager heart gained faster and faster on the patient mind Somehow when she
sat at the window with her book her eyes would fix themselves blankly on the
outdoor sunshine then they would fill with tears and sometimes if her mother
was not in the room the studies would all end in sobbing She rebelled against
her lot she fainted under its loneliness and fits even of anger and hatred
towards her father and mother who were so unlike what she would have them to be
towards Tom who checked her and met her thought or feeling always by some
thwarting difference would flow out over her affections and conscience like a
lava stream and frighten her with a sense that it was not difficult for her to
become a demon Then her brain would be busy with wild romances of a flight from
home in search of something less sordid and dreary she would go to some great
man Walter Scott perhaps and tell him how wretched and how clever she was
and he would surely do something for her But in the middle of her vision her
father would perhaps enter the room for the evening and surprised that she sat
still without noticing him would say complainingly »Come am I to fetch my
slippers myself« The voice pierced through Maggie like a sword there was
another sadness besides her own and she had been thinking of turning her back
on it and forsaking it
This afternoon the sight of Bobs cheerful freckled face had given her
discontent a new direction She thought it was part of the hardship of her life
that there was laid upon her the burthen of larger wants than others seemed to
feel that she had to endure this wide hopeless yearning for that something
whatever it was that was greatest and best on this earth She wished she could
have been like Bob with his easily satisfied ignorance or like Tom who had
something to do on which he could fix his mind with a steady purpose and
disregard everything else Poor child as she leaned her head against the
windowframe with her hands clasped tighter and tighter and her foot beating
the ground she was as lonely in her trouble as if she had been the only girl in
the civilised world of that day who had come out of her schoollife with a soul
untrained for inevitable struggles with no other part of her inherited share
in the hardwon treasures of thought which generations of painful toil have
laid up for the race of men than shreds and patches of feeble literature and
false history with much futile information about Saxon and other kings of
doubtful example but unhappily quite without that knowledge of the
irreversible laws within and without her which governing the habits becomes
morality and developing the feelings of submission and dependence becomes
religion as lonely in her trouble as if every other girl besides herself had
been cherished and watched over by elder minds not forgetful of their own early
time when need was keen and impulse strong
At last Maggies eyes glanced down on the books that lay on the
windowshelf and she half forsook her reverie to turn over listlessly the
leaves of the »Portrait Gallery« but she soon pushed this aside to examine the
little row of books tied together with string »Beauties of the Spectator«
»Rasselas« »Economy of Human Life« »Gregorys Letters« she knew the sort of
matter that was inside all these the »Christian Year« that seemed to be a
hymnbook and she laid it down again but Thomas à Kempis the name had come
across her in her reading and she felt the satisfaction which every one knows
of getting some ideas to attach to a name that strays solitary in the memory
She took up the little old clumsy book with some curiosity it had the corners
turned down in many places and some hand now for ever quiet had made at
certain passages strong penandink marks long since browned by time Maggie
turned from leaf to leaf and read where the quiet hand pointed »Know that
the love of thyself doth hurt thee more than anything in the world If thou
seekest this or that and wouldst be here or there to enjoy thy own will and
pleasure thou shalt never be quiet nor free from care for in everything
somewhat will be wanting and in every place there will be some that will cross
thee Both above and below which way soever thou dost turn thee everywhere
thou shalt find the Cross and everywhere of necessity thou must have patience
if thou wilt have inward peace and enjoy an everlasting crown If thou
desire to mount unto this height thou must set out courageously and lay the
axe to the root that thou mayst pluck up and destroy that hidden inordinate
inclination to thyself and unto all private and earthly good On this sin that
a man inordinately loveth himself almost all dependeth whatsoever is
thoroughly to be overcome which evil being once overcome and subdued there
will presently ensue great peace and tranquillity It is but little thou
sufferest in comparison of them that have suffered so much were so strongly
tempted so grievously afflicted so many ways tried and exercised Thou
oughtest therefore to call to mind the more heavy sufferings of others that
thou mayest the easier bear thy little adversities And if they seem not little
unto thee beware lest thy impatience be the cause thereof Blessed are
those ears that receive the whispers of the divine voice and listen not to the
whisperings of the world Blessed are those ears which hearken not unto the
voice which soundeth outwardly but unto the Truth which teacheth inwardly
«
A strange thrill of awe passed through Maggie while she read as if she had
been wakened in the night by a strain of solemn music telling of beings whose
souls had been astir while hers was in stupor She went on from one brown mark
to another where the quiet hand seemed to point hardly conscious that she was
reading seeming rather to listen while a low voice said
»Why dost thou here gaze about since this is not the place of thy rest In
heaven ought to be thy dwelling and all earthly things are to be looked on as
they forward thy journey thither All things pass away and thou together with
them Beware thou cleave not unto them lest thou be entangled and perish
If a man should give all his substance yet it is as nothing And if he should
do great penances yet are they but little And if he should attain to all
knowledge he is yet far off And if he should be of great virtue and very
fervent devotion yet is there much wanting to wit one thing which is most
necessary for him What is that That having left all he leave himself and go
wholly out of himself and retain nothing of selflove I have often said
unto thee and now again I say the same Forsake thyself resign thyself and
thou shalt enjoy much inward peace Then shall all vain imaginations evil
perturbations and superfluous cares fly away then shall immoderate fear leave
thee and inordinate love shall die«
Maggie drew a long breath and pushed her heavy hair back as if to see a
sudden vision more clearly Here then was a secret of life that would enable
her to renounce all other secrets here was a sublime height to be reached
without the help of outward things here was insight and strength and
conquest to be won by means entirely within her own soul where a suppreme
Teacher was waiting to be heard It flashed through her like the suddenly
apprehended solution of a problem that all the miseries of her young life had
come from fixing her heart on her own pleasure as if that were the central
necessity of the universe and for the first time she saw the possibility of
shifting the position from which she looked at the gratification of her own
desires of taking her stand out of herself and looking at her own life as an
insignificant part of a divinelyguided whole She read on and on in the old
book devouring eagerly the dialogues with the invisible Teacher the pattern of
sorrow the source of all strength returning to it after she had been called
away and reading till the sun went down behind the willows With all the hurry
of an imagination that could never rest in the present she sat in the deepening
twilight forming plans of selfhumiliation and entire devotedness and in the
ardour of first discovery renunciation seemed to her the entrance into that
satisfaction which she had so long been craving in vain She had not perceived
how could she until she had lived longer the inmost truth of the old monks
outpourings that renunciation remains sorrow though a sorrow borne willingly
Maggie was still panting for happiness and was in ecstasy because she had found
the key to it She knew nothing of doctrines and systems of mysticism or
quietism but this voice out of the faroff middle ages was the direct
communication of a human souls belief and experience and came to Maggie as an
unquestioned message
I suppose that is the reason why the small oldfashioned book for which you
need only pay sixpence at a bookstall works miracles to this day turning
bitter waters into sweetness while expensive sermons and treatises newly
issued leave all things as they were before It was written down by a hand that
waited for the hearts prompting it is the chronicle of a solitary hidden
anguish struggle trust and triumph not written on velvet cushions to teach
endurance to those who are treading with bleeding feet on the stones And so it
remains to all time a lasting record of human needs and human consolations the
voice of a brother who ages ago felt and suffered and renounced in the
cloister perhaps with serge gown and tonsured head with much chanting and
long fasts and with a fashion of speech different from ours but under the
same silent faroff heavens and with the same passionate desires the same
strivings the same failures the same weariness
In writing the history of unfashionable families one is apt to fall into a
tone of emphasis which is very far from being the tone of good society where
principles and beliefs are not only of an extremely moderate kind but are
always presupposed no subjects being eligible but such as can be touched with a
light and graceful irony But then good society has its claret and its
velvetcarpets its dinnerengagements six weeks deep its opera and its faëry
ballrooms rides off its ennui on thoroughbred horses lounges at the club has
to keep clear of crinoline vortices gets its science done by Faraday and its
religion by the superior clergy who are to be met in the best houses how should
it have time or need for belief and emphasis But good society floated on
gossamer wings of light irony is of very expensive production requiring
nothing less than a wide and arduous national life condensed in unfragrant
deafening factories cramping itself in mines sweating at furnaces grinding
hammering weaving under more or less oppression of carbonic acid or else
spread over sheepwalks and scattered in lonely houses and huts on the clayey or
chalky cornlands where the rainy days look dreary This wide national life is
based entirely on emphasis the emphasis of want which urges it into all the
activities necessary for the maintenance of good society and light irony it
spends its heavy years often in a chill uncarpeted fashion amidst family
discord unsoftened by long corridors Under such circumstances there are many
among its myriads of souls who have absolutely needed an emphatic belief life
in this unpleasurable shape demanding some solution even to unspeculative minds
just as you inquire into the stuffing of your couch when anything galls you
there whereas eiderdown and perfect French springs excite no question Some
have an emphatic belief in alcohol and seek their ekstasis or outside
standingground in gin but the rest require something that good society calls
»enthusiasm« something that will present motives in an entire absence of high
prizes something that will give patience and feed human love when the limbs
ache with weariness and human looks are hard upon us something clearly that
lies outside personal desires that includes resignation for ourselves and
active love for what is not ourselves Now and then that sort of enthusiasm
finds a farechoing voice that comes from an experience springing out of the
deepest need And it was by being brought within the long lingering vibrations
of such a voice that Maggie with her girls face and unnoted sorrows found an
effort and a hope that helped her through years of loneliness making out a
faith for herself without the aid of established authorities and appointed
guides for they were not at hand and her need was pressing From what you
know of her you will not be surprised that she threw some exaggeration and
wilfulness some pride and impetuosity even into her selfrenunciation her own
life was still a drama for her in which she demanded of herself that her part
should be played with intensity And so it came to pass that she often lost the
spirit of humility by being excessive in the outward act she often strove after
too high a flight and came down with her poor little halffledged wings dabbled
in the mud For example she not only determined to work at plain sewing that
she might contribute something towards the fund in the tin box but she went in
the first instance in her zeal of selfmortification to ask for it at a
linenshop in St Oggs instead of getting it in a more quiet and indirect way
and could see nothing but what was entirely wrong and unkind nay persecuting
in Toms reproof of her for this unnecessary act »I dont like my sister to do
such things« said Tom »Ill take care that the debts are paid without your
lowering yourself in that way« Surely there was some tenderness and bravery
mingled with the worldliness and selfassertion of that little speech but
Maggie held it as dross overlooking the grains of gold and took Toms rebuke
as one of her outward crosses Tom was very hard to her she used to think in
her long nightwatchings to her who had always loved him so and then she strove
to be contented with that hardness and to require nothing That is the path we
all like when we set out on our abandonment of egoism the path of martyrdom
and endurance where the palmbranches grow rather than the steep highway of
tolerance just allowance and selfblame where there are no leafy honours to
be gathered and worn
The old books Virgil Euclid and Aldrich that wrinkled fruit of the tree
of knowledge had been all laid by for Maggie had turned her back on the vain
ambition to share the thoughts of the wise In her first ardour she flung away
the books with a sort of triumph that she had risen above the need of them and
if they had been her own she would have burned them believing that she would
never repent She read so eagerly and constantly in her three books the Bible
ThomasàKempis and the »Christian Year« no longer rejected as a »hymnbook«
that they filled her mind with a continual stream of rhythmic memories and she
was too ardently learning to see all nature and life in the light of her new
faith to need any other material for her mind to work on as she sat with her
wellplied needle making shirts and other complicated stitchings falsely
called »plain« by no means plain to Maggie since wristband and sleeve and the
like had a capability of being sewed in wrong side outwards in moments of mental
wandering
Hanging diligently over her sewing Maggie was a sight any one might have
been pleased to look at That new inward life of hers notwithstanding some
volcanic upheavings of imprisoned passions yet shone out in her face with a
tender soft light that mingled itself as added loveliness with the gradually
enriched colour and outline of her blossoming youth Her mother felt the change
in her with a sort of puzzled wonder that Maggie should be »growing up so good«
it was amazing that this once »contrairy« child was become so submissive so
backward to assert her own will Maggie used to look up from her work and find
her mothers eyes fixed upon her they were watching and waiting for the large
young glance as if her elder frame got some needful warmth from it The mother
was getting fond of her tall brown girl the only bit of furniture now on which
she could bestow her anxiety and pride and Maggie in spite of her own ascetic
wish to have no personal adornment was obliged to give way to her mother about
her hair and submit to have the abundant black locks plaited into a coronet on
the summit of her head after the pitiable fashion of those antiquated times
»Let your mother have that bit o pleasure my dear« said Mrs Tulliver
»Id trouble enough with your hair once«
So Maggie glad of anything that would soothe her mother and cheer their
long day together consented to the vain decoration and showed a queenly head
above her old frocks steadily refusing however to look at herself in the
glass Mrs Tulliver liked to call the fathers attention to Maggies hair and
other unexpected virtues but he had a brusque reply to give
»I knew well enough what shed be before now its nothing new to me But
its a pity she isnt made o commoner stuff shell be thrown away I doubt
therell be nobody to marry her as is fit for her«
And Maggies graces of mind and body fed his gloom He sat patiently enough
while she read him a chapter or said something timidly when they were alone
together about trouble being turned into a blessing He took it all as part of
his daughters goodness which made his misfortunes the sadder to him because
they damaged her chance in life In a mind charged with an eager purpose and an
unsatisfied vindictiveness there is no room for new feelings Mr Tulliver did
not want spiritual consolation he wanted to shake off the degradation of debt
and to have his revenge
Book Fifth
Wheat and Tares
Chapter I
In the Red Deeps
The family sittingroom was a long room with a window at each end one looking
towards the croft and along the Ripple to the banks of the Floss the other into
the millyard Maggie was sitting with her work against the latter window when
she saw Mr Wakem entering the yard as usual on his fine black horse but not
alone as usual Some one was with him a figure in a cloak on a handsome
pony Maggie had hardly time to feel that it was Philip come back before they
were in front of the window and he was raising his hat to her while his
father catching the movement by a sideglance looked sharply round at them
both
Maggie hurried away from the window and carried her work upstairs for Mr
Wakem sometimes came in and inspected the books and Maggie felt that the
meeting with Philip would be robbed of all pleasure in the presence of the two
fathers Some day perhaps she should see him when they could just shake hands
and she could tell him that she remembered his goodness to Tom and the things
he had said to her in the old days though they could never be friends any more
It was not at all agitating to Maggie to see Philip again she retained her
childish gratitude and pity towards him and remembered his cleverness and in
the early weeks of her loneliness she had continually recalled the image of him
among the people who had been kind to her in life often wishing she had him for
a brother and a teacher as they had fancied it might have been in their talk
together But that sort of wishing had been banished along with other dreams
that savoured of seeking her own will and she thought besides that Philip
might be altered by his life abroad he might have become worldly and really
not care about her saying anything to him now And yet his face was wonderfully
little altered it was only a larger more manly copy of the pale
smallfeatured boys face with the grey eyes and the boyish waving brown hair
there was the old deformity to awaken the old pity and after all her
meditations Maggie felt that she really should like to say a few words to him
He might still be melancholy as he always used to be and like her to look at
him kindly She wondered if he remembered how he used to like her eyes with
that thought Maggie glanced towards the square lookingglass which was condemned
to hang with its face towards the wall and she halfstarted from her seat to
reach it down but she checked herself and snatched up her work trying to
repress the rising wishes by forcing her memory to recall snatches of hymns
until she saw Philip and his father returning along the road and she could go
down again
It was far on in June now and Maggie was inclined to lengthen the daily
walk which was her one indulgence but this day and the following she was so
busy with work which must be finished that she never went beyond the gate and
satisfied her need of the open air by sitting out of doors One of her frequent
walks when she was not obliged to go to St Oggs was to a spot that lay beyond
what was called the »Hill« an insignificant rise of ground crowned by trees
lying along the side of the road which ran by the gates of Dorlcote Mill
Insignificant I call it because in height it was hardly more than a bank but
there may come moments when Nature makes a mere bank a means towards a fateful
result and that is why I ask you to imagine this high bank crowned with trees
making an uneven wall for some quarter of a mile along the left side of Dorlcote
Mill and the pleasant fields behind it bounded by the murmuring Ripple Just
where this line of bank sloped down again to the level a byroad turned off and
led to the other side of the rise where it was broken into very capricious
hollows and mounds by the working of an exhausted stonequarry so long
exhausted that both mounds and hollows were now clothed with brambles and trees
and here and there by a stretch of grass which a few sheep kept closenibbled
In her childish days Maggie held this place called the Red Deeps in very great
awe and needed all her confidence in Toms bravery to reconcile her to an
excursion thither visions of robbers and fierce animals haunting every hollow
But now it had the charm for her which any broken ground any mimic rock and
ravine have for the eyes that rest habitually on the level especially in
summer when she could sit on a grassy hollow under the shadow of a branching
ash stooping aslant from the steep above her and listen to the hum of insects
like tiniest bells on the garment of Silence or see the sunlight piercing the
distant boughs as if to chase and drive home the truant heavenly blue of the
wild hyacinths In this June time too the dogroses were in their glory and
that was an additional reason why Maggie should direct her walk to the Red
Deeps rather than to any other spot on the first day she was free to wander at
her will a pleasure she loved so well that sometimes in her ardours of
renunciation she thought she ought to deny herself the frequent indulgence in
it
You may see her now as she walks down the favourite turning and enters the
Deeps by a narrow path through a group of Scotch firs her tall figure and old
lavender gown visible through an hereditary black silk shawl of some widemeshed
netlike material and now she is sure of being unseen she takes off her bonnet
and ties it over her arm One would certainly suppose her to be farther on in
life than her seventeenth year perhaps because of the slow resigned sadness of
the glance from which all search and unrest seem to have departed perhaps
because her broadchested figure has the mould of early womanhood Youth and
health have withstood well the involuntary and voluntary hardships of her lot
and the nights in which she has lain on the hard floor for a penance have left
no obvious trace the eyes are liquid the brown cheek is firm and rounded the
full lips are red With her dark colouring and jet crown surmounting her tall
figure she seems to have a sort of kinship with the grand Scotch firs at which
she is looking up as if she loved them well Yet one has a sense of uneasiness
in looking at her a sense of opposing elements of which a fierce collision is
imminent surely there is a hushed expression such as one often sees in older
faces under borderless caps out of keeping with the resistant youth which one
expects to flash out in a sudden passionate glance that will dissipate all the
quietude like a damp fire leaping out again when all seemed safe
But Maggie herself was not uneasy at this moment She was calmly enjoying
the free air while she looked up at the old firtrees and thought that those
broken ends of branches were the records of past storms which had only made the
red stems soar higher But while her eyes were still turned upward she became
conscious of a moving shadow cast by the evening sun on the grassy path before
her and looked down with a startled gesture to see Philip Wakem who first
raised his hat and then blushing deeply came forward to her and put out his
hand Maggie too coloured with surprise which soon gave way to pleasure She
put out her hand and looked down at the deformed figure before her with frank
eyes filled for the moment with nothing but the memory of her childs feelings
a memory that was always strong in her She was the first to speak
»You startled me« she said smiling faintly »I never meet any one here
How came you to be walking here Did you come to meet me«
It was impossible not to perceive that Maggie felt herself a child again
»Yes I did« said Philip still embarrassed »I wished to see you very
much I watched a long while yesterday on the bank near your house to see if you
would come out but you never came Then I watched again today and when I saw
the way you took I kept you in sight and came down the bank behind there I
hope you will not be displeased with me«
»No« said Maggie with simple seriousness walking on as if she meant
Philip to accompany her »Im very glad you came for I wished very much to have
an opportunity of speaking to you Ive never forgotten how good you were long
ago to Tom and me too but I was not sure that you would remember us so well
Tom and I have had a great deal of trouble since then and I think that makes
one think more of what happened before the trouble came«
»I cant believe that you have thought of me so much as I have thought of
you« said Philip timidly »Do you know when I was away I made a picture of
you as you looked that morning in the study when you said you would not forget
me«
Philip drew a large miniaturecase from his pocket and opened it Maggie
saw her old self leaning on a table with her black locks hanging down behind
her ears looking into space with strange dreamy eyes It was a watercolour
sketch of real merit as a portrait
»O dear« said Maggie smiling and flushed with pleasure »what a queer
little girl I was I remember myself with my hair in that way in that pink
frock I really was like a gypsy I daresay I am now« she added after a little
pause »am I like what you expected me to be«
The words might have been those of a coquette but the full bright glance
Maggie turned on Philip was not that of a coquette She really did hope he liked
her face as it was now but it was simply the rising again of her innate delight
in admiration and love Philip met her eyes and looked at her in silence for a
long moment before he said quietly »No Maggie«
The light died out a little from Maggies face and there was a slight
trembling of the lip Her eyelids fell lower but she did not turn away her
head and Philip continued to look at her Then he said slowly
»You are very much more beautiful than I thought you would be«
»Am I« said Maggie the pleasure returning in a deeper flush She turned
her face away from him and took some steps looking straight before her in
silence as if she were adjusting her consciousness to this new idea Girls are
so accustomed to think of dress as the main ground of vanity that in
abstaining from the lookingglass Maggie had thought more of abandoning all
care for adornment than of renouncing the contemplation of her face Comparing
herself with elegant wealthy young ladies it had not occurred to her that she
could produce any effect with her person Philip seemed to like the silence
well He walked by her side watching her face as if that sight left no room
for any other wish They had passed from among the firtrees and had now come
to a green hollow almost surrounded by an amphitheatre of the pale pink
dogroses But as the light about them had brightened Maggies face had lost
its glow She stood still when they were in the hollows and looking at Philip
again she said in a serious sad voice
»I wish we could have been friends I mean if it would have been good and
right for us But that is the trial I have to bear in everything I may not keep
anything I used to love when I was little The old books went and Tom is
different and my father It is like death I must part with everything I cared
for when I was a child And I must part with you we must never take any notice
of each other again That was what I wanted to speak to you for I wanted to let
you know that Tom and I cant do as we like about such things and that if I
behave as if I had forgotten all about you it is not out of envy or pride or
or any bad feeling«
Maggie spoke with more and more sorrowful gentleness as she went on and her
eyes began to fill with tears The deepening expression of pain on Philips face
gave him a stronger resemblance to his boyish self and made the deformity
appeal more strongly to her pity
»I know I see all that you mean« he said in a voice that had become
feebler from discouragement »I know what there is to keep us apart on both
sides But it is not right Maggie dont you be angry with me I am so used to
call you Maggie in my thoughts it is not right to sacrifice everything to
other peoples unreasonable feelings I would give up a great deal for my
father but I would not give up a friendship or or an attachment of any sort
in obedience to any wish of his that I didnt recognise as right«
»I dont know« said Maggie musingly »Often when I have been angry and
discontented it has seemed to me that I was not bound to give up anything and
I have gone on thinking till it has seemed to me that I could think away all my
duty But no good has ever come of that it was an evil state of mind Im
quite sure that whatever I might do I should wish in the end that I had gone
without anything for myself rather than have made my fathers life harder to
him«
»But would it make his life harder if we were to see each other sometimes«
said Philip He was going to say something else but checked himself
»O Im sure he wouldnt like it Dont ask me why or anything about it«
said Maggie in a distressed tone »My father feels so strongly about some
things He is not at all happy«
»No more am I« said Philip impetuously »I am not happy«
»Why« said Maggie gently »At least I ought not to ask but Im very
very sorry«
Philip turned to walk on as if he had not patience to stand still any
longer and they went out of the hollow winding amongst the trees and bushes in
silence After that last word of Philips Maggie could not bear to insist
immediately on their parting
»Ive been a great deal happier« she said at last timidly »since I have
given up thinking about what is easy and pleasant and being discontented
because I couldnt have my own will Our life is determined for us and it
makes the mind very free when we give up wishing and only think of bearing what
is laid upon us and doing what is given us to do«
»But I cant give up wishing« said Philip impatiently »It seems to me we
can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive There are
certain things we feel to be beautiful and good and we must hunger after them
How can we ever be satisfied without them until our feelings are deadened I
delight in fine pictures I long to be able to paint such I strive and strive
and cant produce what I want That is pain to me and always will be pain
until my faculties lose their keenness like aged eyes Then there are many
other things I long for« here Philip hesitated a little and then said
»things that other men have and that will always be denied me My life will
have nothing great or beautiful in it I would rather not have lived«
»O Philip« said Maggie »I wish you didnt feel so« But her heart began
to beat with something of Philips discontent
»Well then« said he turning quickly round and fixing his grey eyes
entreatingly in her face »I should be contented to live if you would let me
see you sometimes« Then checked by a fear which her face suggested he looked
away again and said more calmly »I have no friend to whom I can tell
everything no one who cares enough about me and if I could only see you now
and then and you would let me talk to you a little and show me that you cared
for me and that we may always be friends in heart and help each other then
I might come to be glad of life«
»But how can I see you Philip« said Maggie falteringly Could she really
do him good It would be very hard to say »goodbye« this day and not speak to
him again Here was a new interest to vary the days it was so much easier to
renounce the interest before it came
»If you would let me see you here sometimes walk with you here I would
be contented if it were only once or twice in a month That could injure no
ones happiness and it would sweeten my life Besides« Philip went on with
all the inventive astuteness of love at oneandtwenty »if there is any enmity
between those who belong to us we ought all the more to try and quench it by
our friendship I mean that by our influence on both sides we might bring
about a healing of the wounds that have been made in the past if I could know
everything about them And I dont believe there is any enmity in my own
fathers mind I think he has proved the contrary«
Maggie shook her head slowly and was silent under conflicting thoughts It
seemed to her inclination that to see Philip now and then and keep up the bond
of friendship with him was something not only innocent but good perhaps she
might really help him to find contentment as she had found it The voice that
said this made sweet music to Maggie but athwart it there came an urgent
monotonous warning from another voice which she had been learning to obey the
warning that such interviews implied secrecy implied doing something she would
dread to be discovered in something that if discovered must cause anger and
pain and that the admission of anything so near doubleness would act as a
spiritual blight Yet the music would swell out again like chimes borne onward
by a recurrent breeze persuading her that the wrong lay all in the faults and
weaknesses of others and that there was such a thing as futile sacrifice for
one to the injury of another It was very cruel for Philip that he should be
shrunk from because of an unjustifiable vindictiveness towards his father
poor Philip whom some people would shrink from only because he was deformed
The idea that he might become her lover or that her meeting him could cause
disapproval in that light had not occurred to her and Philip saw the absence
of this idea clearly enough saw it with a certain pang although it made her
consent to his request the less unlikely There was bitterness to him in the
perception that Maggie was almost as frank and unconstrained towards him as when
she was a child
»I cant say either yes or no« she said at last turning round and walking
towards the way she had come »I must wait lest I should decide wrongly I must
seek for guidance«
»May I come again then tomorrow or the next day or next week«
»I think I had better write« said Maggie faltering again »I have to go to
St Oggs sometimes and I can put the letter in the post«
»O no« said Philip eagerly »that would not be so well My father might
see the letter and he has not any enmity I believe but he views things
differently from me he thinks a great deal about wealth and position Pray let
me come here once more Tell me when it shall be or if you cant tell me I
will come as often as I can till I do see you«
»I think it must be so then« said Maggie »for I cant be quite certain of
coming here any particular evening«
Maggie felt a great relief in adjourning the decision She was free now to
enjoy the minutes of companionship she almost thought she might linger a
little the next time they met she should have to pain Philip by telling him her
determination
»I cant help thinking« she said looking smilingly at him after a few
moments of silence »how strange it is that we should have met and talked to
each other just as if it had been only yesterday when we parted at Lorton And
yet we must both be very much altered in those five years I think it is five
years How was it you seemed to have a sort of feeling that I was the same
Maggie I was not quite so sure that you would be the same I know you are so
clever and you must have seen and learnt so much to fill your mind I was not
quite sure you would care about me now«
»I have never had any doubt that you would be the same whenever I might see
you« said Philip »I mean the same in everything that made me like you better
than any one else I dont want to explain that I dont think any of the
strongest effects our natures are susceptible of can ever be explained We can
neither detect the process by which they are arrived at nor the mode in which
they act on us The greatest of painters only once painted a mysteriously divine
child he couldnt have told how he did it and we cant tell why we feel it to
be divine I think there are stores laid up in our human nature that our
understandings can make no complete inventory of Certain strains of music
affect me so strangely I can never hear them without their changing my whole
attitude of mind for a time and if the effect would last I might be capable of
heroisms«
»Ah I know what you mean about music I feel so« said Maggie clasping
her hands with her old impetuosity »At least« she added in a saddened tone
»I used to feel so when I had any music I never have any now except the organ
at church«
»And you long for it Maggie« said Philip looking at her with affectionate
pity »Ah you can have very little that is beautiful in your life Have you
many books You were so fond of them when you were a little girl«
They were come back to the hollow round which the dogroses grew and they
both paused under the charm of the faëry evening light reflected from the pale
pink lusters
»No I have given up books« said Maggie quietly »except a very very
few«
Philip had already taken from his pocket a small volume and was looking at
the back as he said
»Ah this is the second volume I see else you might have liked to take it
home with you I put it in my pocket because I am studying a scene for a
picture«
Maggie had looked at the back too and saw the title it revived an old
impression with overmastering force
»The Pirate« she said taking the book from Philips hands »O I began
that once I read to where Minna is walking with Cleveland and I could never
get to read the rest I went on with it in my own head and I made several
endings but they were all unhappy I could never make a happy ending out of
that beginning Poor Minna I wonder what is the real end For a long while I
couldnt get my mind away from the Shetland Isles I used to feel the wind
blowing on me from the rough sea«
Maggie spoke rapidly with glistening eyes
»Take that volume home with you Maggie« said Philip watching her with
delight »I dont want it now I shall make a picture of you instead you
among the Scotch firs and the slanting shadows«
Maggie had not heard a word he had said she was absorbed in a page at which
she had opened But suddenly she closed the book and gave it back to Philip
shaking her head with a backward movement as if to say »avaunt« to floating
visions
»Do keep it Maggie« said Philip entreatingly »it will give you
pleasure«
»No thank you« said Maggie putting it aside with her hand and walking on
»It would make me in love with this world again as I used to be it would make
me long to see and know many things it would make me long for a full life«
»But you will not always be shut up in your present lot why should you
starve your mind in that way It is narrow asceticism I dont like to see you
persisting in it Maggie Poetry and art and knowledge are sacred and pure«
»But not for me not for me« said Maggie walking more hurriedly »Because
I should want too much I must wait this life will not last long«
»Dont hurry away from me without saying goodbye Maggie« said Philip as
they reached the group of Scotch firs and she continued still to walk along
without speaking »I must not go any farther I think must I«
»O no I forgot goodbye« said Maggie pausing and putting out her hand
to him The action brought her feeling back in a strong current to Philip and
after they had stood looking at each other in silence for a few moments with
their hands clasped she said withdrawing her hand
»Im very grateful to you for thinking of me all those years It is very
sweet to have people love us What a wonderful beautiful thing it seems that
God should have made your heart so that you could care about a queer little girl
whom you only knew for a few weeks I remember saying to you that I thought you
cared for me more than Tom did«
»Ah Maggie« said Philip almost fretfully »you would never love me so
well as you love your brother«
»Perhaps not« said Maggie simply »but then you know the first thing I
ever remember in my life is standing with Tom by the side of the Floss while he
held my hand everything before that is dark to me But I shall never forget you
though we must keep apart«
»Dont say so Maggie« said Philip »If I kept that little girl in my mind
for five years didnt I earn some part in her She ought not to take herself
quite away from me«
»Not if I were free« said Maggie »but I am not I must submit« She
hesitated a moment and then added »And I wanted to say to you that you had
better not take more notice of my brother than just bowing to him He once told
me not to speak to you again and he doesnt change his mind O dear the
sun is set I am too long away Goodbye« She gave him her hand once more
»I shall come here as often as I can till I see you again Maggie Have
some feeling for me as well as for others«
»Yes yes I have« said Maggie hurrying away and quickly disappearing
behind the last firtree though Philips gaze after her remained immovable for
minutes as if he saw her still
Maggie went home with an inward conflict already begun Philip went home to
do nothing but remember and hope You can hardly help blaming him severely He
was four or five years older than Maggie and had a full consciousness of his
feeling towards her to aid him in foreseeing the character his contemplated
interviews with her would bear in the opinion of a third person But you must
not suppose that he was capable of a gross selfishness or that he could have
been satisfied without persuading himself that he was seeking to infuse some
happiness into Maggies life seeking this even more than any direct ends for
himself He could give her sympathy he could give her help There was not the
slightest promise of love towards him in her manner it was nothing more than
the sweet girlish tenderness she had shown him when she was twelve perhaps she
would never love him perhaps no woman ever could love him well then he
would endure that he should at least have the happiness of seeing her of
feeling some nearness to her And he clutched passionately the possibility that
she might love him perhaps the feeling would grow if she could come to
associate him with that watchful tenderness which her nature would be so keenly
alive to If any woman could love him surely Maggie was that woman there was
such wealth of love in her and there was no one to claim it all Then the
pity of it that a mind like hers should be withering in its very youth like a
young foresttree for want of the light and space it was formed to flourish in
Could he not hinder that by persuading her out of her system of privation He
would be her guardian angel he would do anything bear anything for her sake
except not seeing her
Chapter II
Aunt Glegg Learns the Breadth of Bobs Thumb
While Maggies lifestruggles had lain almost entirely within her own soul one
shadowy army fighting another and the slain shadows for ever rising again Tom
was engaged in a dustier noisier warfare grappling with more substantial
obstacles and gaining more definite conquests So it has been since the days of
Hecuba and of Hector Tamer of horses inside the gates the women with
streaming hair and uplifted hands offering prayers watching the worlds combat
from afar filling their long empty days with memories and fears outside the
men in fierce struggle with things divine and human quenching memory in the
stronger light of purpose losing the sense of dread and even of wounds in the
hurrying ardour of action
From what you have seen of Tom I think he is not a youth of whom you would
prophesy failure in anything he had thoroughly wished the wagers are likely to
be on his side notwithstanding his small success in the classics For Tom had
never desired success in this field of enterprise and for getting a fine
flourishing growth of stupidity there is nothing like pouring out on a mind a
good amount of subjects in which it feels no interest But now Toms strong will
bound together his integrity his pride his family regrets and his personal
ambition and made them one force concentrating his efforts and surmounting
discouragements His uncle Deane who watched him closely soon began to
conceive hopes of him and to be rather proud that he had brought into the
employment of the firm a nephew who appeared to be made of such good commercial
stuff The real kindness of placing him in the warehouse first was soon evident
to Tom in the hints his uncle began to throw out that after a time he might
perhaps be trusted to travel at certain seasons and buy in for the firm various
vulgar commodities with which I need not shock refined ears in this place and
it was doubtless with a view to this result that Mr Deane when he expected to
take his wine alone would tell Tom to step in and sit with him an hour and
would pass that hour in much lecturing and catechising concerning articles of
export and import with an occasional excursus of more indirect utility on the
relative advantages to the merchants of St Oggs of having goods brought in
their own and in foreign bottoms a subject on which Mr Deane as a shipowner
naturally threw off a few sparks when he got warmed with talk and wine Already
in the second year Toms salary was raised but all except the price of his
dinner and clothes went home into the tin box and he shunned comradeship lest
it should lead him into expenses in spite of himself Not that Tom was moulded
on the spooney type of the Industrious Apprentice he had a very strong appetite
for pleasure would have liked to be a Tamer of horses and to make a
distinguished figure in all neighbouring eyes dispensing treats and benefits to
others with welljudged liberality and being pronounced one of the finest young
fellows of those parts nay he determined to achieve these things sooner or
later but his practical shrewdness told him that the means to such achievements
could only lie for him in present abstinence and selfdenial there were certain
milestones to be passed and one of the first was the payment of his fathers
debts Having made up his mind on that point he strode along without swerving
contracting some rather saturnine sternness as a young man is likely to do who
has a premature call upon him for selfreliance Tom felt intensely that common
cause with his father which springs from family pride and was bent on being
irreproachable as a son but his growing experience caused him to pass much
silent criticism on the rashness and imprudence of his fathers past conduct
their dispositions were not in sympathy and Toms face showed little radiance
during his few home hours Maggie had an awe of him against which she struggled
as something unfair to her consciousness of wider thoughts and deeper motives
but it was of no use to struggle A character at unity with itself that
performs what it intends subdues every counteracting impulse and has no
visions beyond the distinctly possible is strong by its very negations
You may imagine that Toms more and more obvious unlikeness to his father
was well fitted to conciliate the maternal aunts and uncles and Mr Deanes
favourable reports and predictions to Mr Glegg concerning Toms qualifications
for business began to be discussed amongst them with various acceptance He was
likely it appeared to do the family credit without causing it any expense and
trouble Mrs Pullet had always thought it strange if Toms excellent
complexion so entirely that of the Dodsons did not argue a certainty that he
would turn out well his juvenile errors of running down the peacock and
general disrespect to his aunts only indicating a tinge of Tulliver blood which
he had doubtless outgrown Mr Glegg who had contracted a cautious liking for
Tom ever since his spirited and sensible behaviour when the execution was in the
house was now warming into a resolution to further his prospects actively
some time when an opportunity offered of doing so in a prudent manner without
ultimate loss but Mrs Glegg observed that she was not given to speak without
book as some people were that those who said least were most likely to find
their words made good and that when the right moment came it would be seen who
could do something better than talk Uncle Pullet after silent meditation for a
period of several lozenges came distinctly to the conclusion that when a young
man was likely to do well it was better not to meddle with him
Tom meanwhile had shown no disposition to rely on any one but himself
though with a natural sensitiveness towards all indications of favourable
opinion he was glad to see his uncle Glegg look in on him sometimes in a
friendly way during business hours and glad to be invited to dine at his house
though he usually preferred declining on the ground that he was not sure of
being punctual But about a year ago something had occurred which induced Tom
to test his uncle Gleggs friendly disposition
Bob Jakin who rarely returned from one of his rounds without seeing Tom and
Maggie awaited him on the bridge as he was coming home from St Oggs one
evening that they might have a little private talk He took the liberty of
asking if Mr Tom had ever thought of making money by trading a bit on his own
account Trading how Tom wished to know Why by sending out a bit of a cargo
to foreign ports because Bob had a particular friend who had offered to do a
little business for him in that way in Laceham goods and would be glad to serve
Mr Tom on the same footing Tom was interested at once and begged for full
explanation wondering he had not thought of this plan before He was so well
pleased with the prospect of a speculation that might change the slow process of
addition into multiplication that he at once determined to mention the matter
to his father and get his consent to appropriate some of the savings in the tin
box to the purchase of a small cargo He would rather not have consulted his
father but he had just paid his last quarters money into the tin box and
there was no other resource All the savings were there for Mr Tulliver would
not consent to put the money out at interest lest he should lose it Since he
had speculated in the purchase of some corn and had lost by it he could not be
easy without keeping the money under his eye
Tom approached the subject carefully as he was seated on the hearth with
his father that evening and Mr Tulliver listened leaning forward in his
armchair and looking up in Toms face with a sceptical glance His first
impulse was to give a positive refusal but he was in some awe of Toms wishes
and since he had had the sense of being an »unlucky« father he had lost some of
his old peremptoriness and determination to be master He took the key of the
bureau from his pocket got out the key of the large chest and fetched down the
tin box slowly as if he were trying to defer the moment of a painful parting
Then he seated himself against the table and opened the box with that little
padlockkey which he fingered in his waistcoat pocket in all vacant moments
There they were the dingy banknotes and the bright sovereigns and he counted
them out on the table only a hundred and sixteen pounds in two years after
all the pinching
»How much do you want then« he said speaking as if the words burnt his
lips
»Suppose I begin with the thirtysix pounds father« said Tom
Mr Tulliver separated this sum from the rest and keeping his hand over
it said
»Its as much as I can save out o my pay in a year«
»Yes father it is such slow work saving out of the little money we get
And in this way we might double our savings«
»Ay my lad« said the father keeping his hand on the money »but you might
lose it you might lose a year o my life and I havent got many«
Tom was silent
»And you know I wouldnt pay a dividend with the first hundred because I
wanted to see it all in a lump and when I see it Im sure ont If you trust
to luck its sure to be against me Its Old Harrys got the luck in his hands
and if I lose one year I shall never pick it up again death ull oertake
me«
Mr Tullivers voice trembled and Tom was silent for a few minutes before
he said
»Ill give it up father since you object to it so strongly«
But unwilling to abandon the scheme altogether he determined to ask his
uncle Glegg to venture twenty pounds on condition of receiving five per cent of
the profits That was really a very small thing to ask So when Bob called the
next day at the wharf to know the decision Tom proposed that they should go
together to his uncle Gleggs to open the business for his diffident pride
clung to him and made him feel that Bobs tongue would relieve him from some
embarrassment
Mr Glegg at the pleasant hour of four in the afternoon of a hot August
day was naturally counting his wallfruit to assure himself that the sum total
had not varied since yesterday To him entered Tom in what appeared to Mr
Glegg very questionable companionship that of a man with a pack on his back
for Bob was equipped for a new journey and of a huge brindled bullterrier
who walked with a slow swaying movement from side to side and glanced from
under his eyelids with a surly indifference which might after all be a cover to
the most offensive designs Mr Gleggs spectacles which had been assisting him
in counting the fruit made these suspicious details alarmingly evident to him
»Heigh heigh keep that dog back will you« he shouted snatching up a
stake and holding it before him as a shield when the visitors were within three
yards of him
»Get out wi you Mumps« said Bob with a kick »Hes as quiet as a lamb
sir« an observation which Mumps corroborated by a low growl as he retreated
behind his masters legs
»Why what ever does this mean Tom« said Mr Glegg »Have you brought
information about the scoundrels as cut my trees« If Bob came in the character
of »information« Mr Glegg saw reasons for tolerating some irregularity
»No sir« said Tom »I came to speak to you about a little matter of
business of my own«
»Ay well but what has this dog got to do with it« said the old
gentleman getting mild again
»Its my dog sir« said the ready Bob »An its me as put Mr Tom up to
the bit o business for Mr Toms been a friend o mine iver since I was a
little chap fust thing iver I did was frightenin the birds for th old master
An if a bit o luck turns up Im allays thinkin if I can let Mr Tom have a
pull at it An its a downright roarin shame as when hes got the chance o
making a bit o money wi sending goods out ten or twelve per zent clear when
freight an commissions paid as he shouldnt lay hold o the chance for want
o money An when theres the Laceham goods lors theyre made o purpose for
folks as want to send out a little carguy light an take up no room you may
pack twenty pound so as you cant see the passill an theyre manifacturs as
please fools so I reckon they arent like to want a market An Id go to
Laceham an buy in the goods for Mr Tom along wi my own An theres the
shupercargo o the bit of a vessel as is goin to take em out I know him
particlar hes a solid man an got a family i the town here Salt his name
is an a briny chap he is too an if you dont believe me I can take you to
him«
Uncle Glegg stood openmouthed with astonishment at this unembarrassed
loquacity with which his understanding could hardly keep pace He looked at
Bob first over his spectacles then through them then over them again while
Tom doubtful of his uncles impression began to wish he had not brought this
singular Aaron or mouthpiece Bobs talk appeared less seemly now some one
besides himself was listening to it
»You seem to be a knowing fellow« said Mr Glegg at last
»Ay sir you say true« returned Bob nodding his head aside »I think my
heads all alive inside like an old cheese for Im so full o plans one knocks
another over If I hadnt Mumps to talk to I should get topheavy an tumble in
a fit I suppose its because I niver went to school much Thats what I jaw my
old mother for I says You should ha sent me to school a bit more I says
an then I could ha read i the books like fun an kep my head cool an
empty Lors shes fine an comforble now my old mother is she ates her baked
meat an taters as often as she likes For Im gettin so full o money I must
hev a wife to spend it for me But its botherin a wife is and Mumps
mightnt like her«
Uncle Glegg who regarded himself as a jocose man since he had retired from
business was beginning to find Bob amusing but he had still a disapproving
observation to make which kept his face serious
»Ah« he said »I should think youre at a loss for ways o spending your
money else you wouldnt keep that big dog to eat as much as two Christians
Its shameful shameful« But he spoke more in sorrow than in anger and
quickly added
»But come now lets hear more about this business Tom I suppose you want
a little sum to make a venture with But wheres all your own money You dont
spend it all eh«
»No sir« said Tom colouring »but my father is unwilling to risk it and
I dont like to press him If I could get twenty or thirty pounds to begin with
I could pay five per cent for it and then I could gradually make a little
capital of my own and do without a loan«
»Ay ay« said Mr Glegg in an approving tone »thats not a bad notion
and I wont say as I wouldnt be your man But it ull be as well for me to see
this Salt as you talk on And then heres this friend o yours offers to
buy the goods for you Perhaps youve got somebody to stand surety for you if
the moneys put into your hands« added the cautious old gentleman looking over
his spectacles at Bob
»I dont think thats necessary uncle« said Tom »At least I mean it
would not be necessary for me because I know Bob well but perhaps it would be
right for you to have some security«
»You get your percentage out o the purchase I suppose« said Mr Glegg
looking at Bob
»No sir« said Bob rather indignantly »I didnt offer to get a apple for
Mr Tom o purpose to hev a bite out of it myself When I play folks tricks
therell be more fun in em nor that«
»Well but its nothing but right you should have a small percentage« said
Mr Glegg »Ive no opinion o transactions where folks do things for nothing
It allays looks bad«
»Well then« said Bob whose keenness saw at once what was implied »Ill
tell you what I get byt an its money in my pocket in the end I make
myself look big wi makin a bigger purchase Thats what Im thinking on
Lors Im a cute chap I am«
»Mr Glegg Mr Glegg« said a severe voice from the open parlour window
»pray are you coming in to tea or are you going to stand talking with packmen
till you get murdered in the open daylight«
»Murdered« said Mr Glegg »whats the woman talking of Heres your nephey
Tom come about a bit o business«
»Murdered yes it isnt many sizes ago since a packman murdered a young
woman in a lone place and stole her thimble and threw her body into a ditch«
»Nay nay« said Mr Glegg soothingly »youre thinking o the man wi no
legs as drove a dogcart«
»Well its the same thing Mr Glegg only youre fond o contradicting
what I say and if my nepheys come about business it ud be more fitting if
youd bring him into the house and let his aunt know about it instead o
whispering in corners in that plotting underminding way«
»Well well« said Mr Glegg »well come in now«
»You neednt stay here« said the lady to Bob in a loud voice adapted to
the moral not the physical distance between them »We dont want anything I
dont deal wi packmen Mind you shut the gate after you«
»Stop a bit not so fast« said Mr Glegg »I havent done with this young
man yet Come in Tom come in« he added stepping in at the French window
»Mr Glegg« said Mrs G in a fatal tone »if youre going to let that man
and his dog in on my carpet before my very face be so good as to let me know
A wifes got a right to ask that I hope«
»Dont you be uneasy mum« said Bob touching his cap He saw at once that
Mrs Glegg was a bit of game worth running down and longed to be at the sport
»well stay out upo the gravel here Mumps and me will Mumps knows his
company he does I might hish at him by th hour together before hed fly at
a real gentlewoman like you Its wonderful how he knows which is the
goodlooking ladies ands particlar fond of em when theyve good shapes
Lors« added Bob laying down his pack on the gravel »its a thousand pities
such a lady as you shouldnt deal with a packman istead o goin into these
newfangled shops where theres halfadozen fine gents wi their chins propped
up wi a stiff stock alooking like bottles wi ornamental stoppers an all
got to get their dinner out of a bit o calico it stans to reason you must pay
three times the price you pay a packman as is the natral way o gettin goods
an pays no rent an isnt forced to throttle himself till the lies are
squeezed out on him whether he will or no But lors mum you know what it is
better nor I do you can see through them shopmen Ill be bound«
»Yes I reckon I can and through the packmen too« observed Mrs Glegg
intending to imply that Bobs flattery had produced no effect on her while her
husband standing behind her with his hands in his pockets and legs apart
winked and smiled with conjugal delight at the probability of his wifes being
circumvented
»Ay to be sure mum« said Bob »Why you must ha dealt wi no end o
packmen when you war a young lass before the master here had the luck to set
eyes on you I know where you lived I do seen th house many a time close
upon Squire Darleighs a stone house wi steps «
»Ah that it had« said Mrs Glegg pouring out the tea »You know something
o my family then are you akin to that packman with a squint in his eye as
used to bring th Irish linen«
»Look you there now« said Bob evasively »Didnt I know as youd remember
the best bargains youve made in your life was made wi packmen Why you see
even a squintin packmans better nor a shopman as can see straight Lors if
Id had the luck to call at the stone house wi my pack as lies here«
stooping and thumping the bundle emphatically with his fist »an th handsome
young lasses all stannin out on the stone steps it ud ha been summat like
openin a pack that would Its ony the poor houses now as a packman calls
on if it isnt for the sake o the sarvantmaids Theyre paltry times these
are Why mum look at the printed cottons now an what they was when you wore
em why you wouldnt put such a thing on now I can see It must be
firstrate quality the manifactur as youd buy summat as ud wear as well as
your own faitures«
»Yes better quality nor any youre like to carry youve got nothing
firstrate but brazenness Ill be bound« said Mrs Glegg with a triumphant
sense of her insurmountable sagacity »Mr Glegg are you going ever to sit down
to your tea Tom theres a cup for you«
»You speak true there mum« said Bob »My pack isnt for ladies like you
The times gone by for that Bargains picked up dirt cheap A bit o damage here
an there as can be cut out or else niver seen i the wearin but not fit to
offer to rich folks as can pay for the look o things as nobody sees Im not
the man as ud offer t open my pack to you mum no no Im a imperent chap
as you say these times makes folks imperent but Im not up to the mark o
that«
»Why what goods do you carry in your pack« said Mrs Glegg »Finecoloured
things I suppose shawls an that«
»All sorts mum all sorts« said Bob thumping his bundle »but let us say
no more about that if you please Im here upo Mr Toms business an Im not
the man to take up the time wi my own«
»And pray what is this business as is to be kept from me« said Mrs Glegg
who solicited by a double curiosity was obliged to let the onehalf wait
»A little plan o nephey Toms here« said goodnatured Mr Glegg »and not
altogether a bad un I think A little plan for making money thats the right
sort o plan for young folks as have got their fortin to make eh Jane«
»But I hope it isnt a plan where he expects iverything to be done for him
by his friends thats what the young folks think of mostly nowadays And pray
what has this packman got to do wi what goes on in our family Cant you speak
for yourself Tom and let your aunt know things as a nephey should«
»This is Bob Jakin aunt« said Tom bridling the irritation that aunt
Gleggs voice always produced »Ive known him ever since we were little boys
Hes a very good fellow and always ready to do me a kindness And he has had
some experience in sending goods out a small part of a cargo as a private
speculation and he thinks if I could begin to do a little in the same way I
might make some money A large interest is got in that way«
»Large intrest« said aunt Glegg with eagerness »and what do you call
large intrest«
»Ten or twelve per cent Bob says after expenses are paid«
»Then why wasnt I let to know o such things before Mr Glegg« said Mrs
Glegg turning to her husband with a deep grating tone of reproach »Havent
you allays told me as there was no getting more nor five per cent«
»Pooh pooh nonsense my good woman« said Mr Glegg »You couldnt go into
trade could you You cant get more than five per cent with security«
»But I can turn a bit o money for you an welcome mum« said Bob »if
youd like to risk it not as theres any risk to speak on But if youd a mind
to lend a bit o money to Mr Tom hed pay you six or seven per zent an get a
trifle for himself as well an a goodnaturd lady like you ud like the feel
o the money better if your nephey took part on it«
»What do you say Mrs G« said Mr Glegg »Ive a notion when Ive made a
bit more inquiry as I shall perhaps start Tom here with a bit of a nestegg
hell pay me intrest you know an if youve got some little sums lyin idle
twisted up in a stockin toe or that «
»Mr Glegg its beyond iverything Youll go and give information to the
tramps next as they may come and rob me«
»Well well as I was sayin if you like to join me wi twenty pounds you
can Ill make it fifty Thatll be a pretty good nestegg eh Tom«
»Youre not counting on me Mr Glegg I hope« said his wife »You could do
fine things wi my money I dont doubt«
»Very well« said Mr Glegg rather snappishly »then well do without you
I shall go with you to see this Salt« he added turning to Bob
»And now I suppose youll go all the other way Mr Glegg« said Mrs G
»and want to shut me out o my own nepheys business I never said I wouldnt
put money into it I dont say as it shall be twenty pounds though youre so
ready to say it for me but hell see some day as his aunts in the right not
to risk the money shes saved for him till its proved as it wont be lost«
»Ay thats a pleasant sort o risk that is« said Mr Glegg indiscreetly
winking at Tom who couldnt avoid smiling But Bob stemmed the injured ladys
outburst
»Ay mum« he said admiringly »you know whats what you do An its
nothing but fair You see how the first bit of a job answers an then youll
come down handsome Lors its a fine thing to hev good kin I got my bit of a
nestegg as the master calls it all by my own sharpness ten suvreigns it was
wi dousing the fire at Torrys mill an its growed an growed by a bit an
a bit till In got a matter o thirty pound to lay out besides makin my
mother comforble I should get more ony Im such a soft wi the women I
cant help lettin em hev such good bargains Theres this bundle now«
thumping it lustily »any other chap ud make a pretty penny out on it But
me lors I shall sell em for pretty near what I paid for em«
»Have you got a bit of good net now« said Mrs Glegg in a patronising
tone moving from the teatable and folding her napkin
»Eh mum not what youd think it worth your while to look at Id scorn to
show it you It ud be an insult to you«
»But let me see« said Mrs Glegg still patronising »If theyre damaged
goods theyre like enough to be a bit the better quality«
»No mum I know my place« said Bob lifting up his pack and shouldering
it »Im not going t expose the lowness o my trade to a lady like you Packs
is come down i the world it ud cut you to th heart to see the difference
Im at your sarvice sir when youve a mind to go and see Salt«
»All in good time« said Mr Glegg really unwilling to cut short the
dialogue »Are you wanted at the wharf Tom«
»No sir I left Stowe in my place«
»Come put down your pack and let me see« said Mrs Glegg drawing a chair
to the window and seating herself with much dignity
»Dont you ask it mum« said Bob entreatingly
»Make no more words« said Mrs Glegg severely »but do as I tell you«
»Eh mum Im loth that I am« said Bob slowly depositing his pack on the
step and beginning to untie it with unwilling fingers »But what you order
shall be done« much fumbling in pauses between the sentences »Its not as
youll buy a single thing on me Id be sorry for you to do it for think
o them poor women up i the villages there as niver stir a hundred yards from
home it ud be a pity for anybody to buy up their bargains Lors its as
good as a junketing to em when they see me wi my pack an I shall niver
pick up such bargains for em again Least ways Ive no time now for Im off
to Laceham See here now« Bob went on becoming rapid again and holding up a
scarlet woollen kerchief with an embroidered wreath in the corner »heres a
thing to make a lasss mouth water an ony two shillin an why Why cause
theres a bit of a mothhole i this plain end Lors I think the moths an the
mildew was sent by Providence o purpose to cheapen the goods a bit for the
goodlookin women as hant got much money If it hadnt been for the moths
now every hankicher on em ud ha gone to the rich handsome ladies like you
mum at five shillin apiece not a farthin less but what does the moth do
Why it nibbles off three shillin o the price i no time an then a packman
like me can carryt to the poor lasses as live under the dark thack to make a
bit of a blaze for em Lors its as good as a fire to look at such a
hankicher«
Bob held it at a distance for admiration but Mrs Glegg said sharply
»Yes but nobody wants a fire this time o year Put these coloured things
by let me look at your nets if youve got em«
»Eh mum I told you how it ud be« said Bob flinging aside the coloured
things with an air of desperation »I knowed it ud turn again you to look at
such paltry articles as I carry Heres a piece o figured muslin now whats
the use o you lookin at it You might as well look at poor folkss victual
mum it ud ony take away your appetite Theres a yard i the middle ont as
the patterns all missed lors why its a muslin as the Princess Victoree
might ha wore but« added Bob flinging it behind him on to the turf as if
to save Mrs Gleggs eyes »itll be bought up by the hucksters wife at Fibbs
End thats where itll go ten shillin for the whole lot ten yards
countin the damaged un fiveantwenty shillin ud ha been the price not
a penny less But Ill say no more mum its nothing to you a piece o muslin
like that you can afford to pay three times the money for a thing as isnt half
so good Its nets you talked on well Ive got a piece as ull serve you to
make fun on «
»Bring me that muslin« said Mrs Glegg »its a buff Im partial to
buff«
»Eh but a damaged thing« said Bob in a tone of deprecating disgust
»Youd do nothing with it mum youd give it to the cook I know you would
an it ud be a pity shed look too much like a lady in it its unbecoming
for servants«
»Fetch it and let me see you measure it« said Mrs Glegg authoritatively
Bob obeyed with ostentatious reluctance
»See what there is over measure« he said holding forth the extra
halfyard while Mrs Glegg was busy examining the damaged yard and throwing
her head back to see how far the fault would be lost on a distant view
»Ill give you six shilling for it« she said throwing it down with the air
of a person who mentions an ultimatum
»Didnt I tell you now mum as it ud hurt your feelings to look at my
pack That damaged bits turned your stomach now I see it has« said Bob
wrapping the muslin up with the utmost quickness and apparently about to fasten
up his pack »Youre used to seein a different sort o article carried by
packmen when you lived at the stone house Packs is come down i the world I
told you that my goods are for common folks Mrs Pepper ull give me ten
shillin for that muslin an be sorry as I didnt ask her more Such articles
answer i the wearin they keep their colour till the threads melt away i the
washtub an that wont be while Im a young un«
»Well seven shilling« said Mrs Glegg
»Put it out o your mind mum now do« said Bob »Heres a bit o net
then for you to look at before I tie up my pack just for you to see what my
trades come to spotted and sprigged you see beautiful but yallow s been
lyin by an got the wrong colour I could niver ha bought such net if it
hadnt been yallow Lors its took me a deal o study to know the vally o such
articles when I begun to carry a pack I was as ignirant as a pig net or
calico was all the same to me I thought them things the most vally as was the
thickest I was took in dreadful for Im a straightforrard chap up to no
tricks mum I can ony say my nose is my own for if I went beyond I should
lose myself pretty quick An I gev fiveaneightpence for that piece o net
if I was to tell y anything else I should be tellin you fibs an
fiveaneightpence I shall ask for it not a penny more for its a womans
article an I like to commodate the women Fiveaneightpence for six yards
as cheap as if it was only the dirt on it as was paid for«
»I dont mind having three yards of it« said Mrs Glegg
»Why theres but six altogether« said Bob »No mum it isnt worth your
while you can go to the shop tomorrow an get the same pattern ready whitened
Its ony three times the money whats that to a lady like you« He gave an
emphatic tie to his bundle
»Come lay me out that muslin« said Mrs Glegg »Heres eight shilling for
it«
»You will be jokin mum« said Bob looking up with a laughing face »I
seed you was a pleasant lady when I fust come to the winder«
»Well put it me out« said Mrs Glegg peremptorily
»But if I let you have it for ten shillin mum youll be so good as not
tell nobody I should be a laughinstock the trade ud hoot me if they
knowed it Im obliged to make believe as I ask more nor I do for my goods else
theyd find out I was a flat Im glad you dont insist upo buyin the net for
then I should ha lost my two best bargains for Mrs Pepper o Fibbs End an
shes a rare customer«
»Let me look at the net again« said Mrs Glegg yearning after the cheap
spots and sprigs now they were vanishing
»Well I cant deny you mum« said Bob handing it out »Eh see what a
pattern now Real Laceham goods Now this is the sort o article Im
recommendin Mr Tom to send out Lors its a fine thing for anybody as has got
a bit o money these Laceham goods ud make it breed like maggits If I was a
lady wi a bit o money why I know one as put thirty pound into them goods
a lady wi a cork leg but as sharp you wouldnt catch her runnin her head
into a sack shed see her way clear out o anything afore shed be in a hurry
to start Well she let out thirty pound to a young man in the drapering line
and he laid it out i Laceham goods an a shupercargo o my acquinetance not
Salt took em out an she got her eight per zent fust go off an now you
cant hold her but she must be sendin out carguies wi every ship till shes
gettin as rich as a Jew Bucks her name is she doesnt live i this town Now
then mum if youll please to give me the net «
»Heres fifteen shilling then for the two« said Mrs Glegg »But its a
shameful price«
»Nay mum youll niver say that when youre upo your knees i church i
five years time Im makin you a present o th articles I am indeed That
eightpence shaves off my profit as clean as a razor Now then sir« continued
Bob shouldering his pack »if you please Ill be glad to go and see about
makin Mr Toms fortin Eh I wish Id got another twenty pound to lay out for
mysen I shouldnt stay to say my Catechism afore I knowed what to do wit«
»Stop a bit Mr Glegg« said the lady as her husband took his hat »you
never will give me the chance o speaking Youll go away now and finish
everything about this business and come back and tell me its too late for me
to speak As if I wasnt my nepheys own aunt and th head o the family on his
mothers side and laid by guineas all full weight for him as hell know who
to respect when Im laid in my coffin«
»Well Mrs G say what you mean« said Mr G hastily
»Well then I desire as nothing may be done without my knowing I dont say
as I shant venture twenty pounds if you make out as everythings right and
safe And if I do Tom« concluded Mrs Glegg turning impressively to her
nephew »I hope youll allays bear it in mind and be grateful for such an aunt
I mean you to pay me interest you know I dont approve o giving we niver
looked for that in my family«
»Thank you aunt« said Tom rather proudly »I prefer having the money only
lent to me«
»Very well thats the Dodson sperrit« said Mrs Glegg rising to get her
knitting with the sense that any further remark after this would be bathos
Salt that eminently »briny chap« having been discovered in a cloud of
tobaccosmoke at the Anchor Tavern Mr Glegg commenced inquiries which turned
out satisfactorily enough to warrant the advance of the »nestegg« to which
aunt Glegg contributed twenty pounds and in this modest beginning you see the
ground of a fact which might otherwise surprise you namely Toms accumulation
of a fund unknown to his father that promised in no very long time to meet the
more tardy process of saving and quite cover the deficit When once his
attention had been turned to this source of gain Tom determined to make the
most of it and lost no opportunity of obtaining information and extending his
small enterprises In not telling his father he was influenced by that strange
mixture of opposite feelings which often gives equal truth to those who blame an
action and those who admire it partly it was that disinclination to confidence
which is seen between near kindred that family repulsion which spoils the most
sacred relations of our lives partly it was the desire to surprise his father
with a great joy He did not see that it would have been better to soothe the
interval with a new hope and prevent the delirium of a too sudden elation
At the time of Maggies first meeting with Philip Tom had already nearly a
hundred and fifty pounds of his own capital and while they were walking by the
evening light in the Red Deeps he by the same evening light was riding into
Laceham proud of being on his first journey on behalf of Guest amp Co and
revolving in his mind all the chances that by the end of another year he should
have doubled his gains lifted off the obloquy of debt from his fathers name
and perhaps for he should be twentyone have got a new start for himself on
a higher platform of employment Did he not deserve it He was quite sure that
he did
Chapter III
The Wavering Balance
I said that Maggie went home that evening from the Red Deeps with a mental
conflict already begun You have seen clearly enough in her interview with
Philip what that conflict was Here suddenly was an opening in the rocky wall
which shut in the narrow valley of humiliation where all her prospect was the
remote unfathomed sky and some of the memoryhaunting earthly delights were no
longer out of her reach She might have books converse affection she might
hear tidings of the world from which her mind had not yet lost its sense of
exile and it would be a kindness to Philip too who was pitiable clearly not
happy and perhaps here was an opportunity indicated for making her mind more
worthy of its highest service perhaps the noblest completest devoutness could
hardly exist without some width of knowledge must she always live in this
resigned imprisonment It was so blameless so good a thing that there should be
friendship between her and Philip the motives that forbade it were so
unreasonable so unchristian But the severe monotonous warning came again and
again that she was losing the simplicity and clearness of her life by
admitting a ground of concealment and that by forsaking the simple rule of
renunciation she was throwing herself under the seductive guidance of
illimitable wants She thought she had won strength to obey the warning before
she allowed herself the next week to turn her steps in the evening to the Red
Deeps But while she was resolved to say an affectionate farewell to Philip how
she looked forward to that evening walk in the still fleckered shade of the
hollows away from all that was harsh and unlovely to the affectionate admiring
looks that would meet her to the sense of comradeship that childish memories
would give to wiser older talk to the certainty that Philip would care to hear
everything she said which no one else cared for It was a halfhour that it
would be very hard to turn her back upon with the sense that there would be no
other like it Yet she said what she meant to say she looked firm as well as
sad
»Philip I have made up my mind it is right that we should give each other
up in everything but memory I could not see you without concealment stay I
know what you are going to say it is other peoples wrong feelings that make
concealment necessary but concealment is bad however it may be caused I feel
that it would be bad for me for us both And then if our secret were
discovered there would be nothing but misery dreadful anger and then we must
part after all and it would be harder when we were used to seeing each other«
Philips face had flushed and there was a momentary eagerness of
expression as if he had been about to resist this decision with all his might
But he controlled himself and said with assumed calmness »Well Maggie if we
must part let us try and forget it for one halfhour let us talk together a
little while for the last time«
He took her hand and Maggie felt no reason to withdraw it his quietness
made her all the more sure she had given him great pain and she wanted to show
him how unwillingly she had given it They walked together hand in hand in
silence
»Let us sit down in the hollow« said Philip »where we stood the last time
See how the dogroses have strewed the ground and spread their opal petals over
it«
They sat down at the roots of the slanting ash
»Ive begun my picture of you among the Scotch firs Maggie« said Philip
»so you must let me study your face a little while you stay since I am not to
see it again Please turn your head this way«
This was said in an entreating voice and it would have been very hard of
Maggie to refuse The full lustrous face with the bright black coronet looked
down like that of a divinity well pleased to be worshipped on the palehued
smallfeatured face that was turned up to it
»I shall be sitting for my second portrait then« she said smiling »Will
it be larger than the other«
»O yes much larger It is an oilpainting You will look like a tall
Hamadryad dark and strong and noble just issued from one of the firtrees
when the stems are casting their afternoon shadows on the grass«
»You seem to think more of painting than of anything now Philip«
»Perhaps I do« said Philip rather sadly »but I think of too many things
sow all sorts of seeds and get no great harvest from any one of them Im
cursed with susceptibility in every direction and effective faculty in none I
care for painting and music I care for classic literature and mediæval
literature and modern literature I flutter all ways and fly in none«
»But surely that is a happiness to have so many tastes to enjoy so many
beautiful things when they are within your reach« said Maggie musingly »It
always seemed to me a sort of clever stupidity only to have one sort of talent
almost like a carrierpigeon«
»It might be a happiness to have many tastes if I were like other men« said
Philip bitterly »I might get some power and distinction by mere mediocrity as
they do at least I should get those middling satisfactions which make men
contented to do without great ones I might think society at St Oggs agreeable
then But nothing could make life worth the purchasemoney of pain to me but
some faculty that would lift me above the dead level of provincial existence
Yes there is one thing a passion answers as well as a faculty«
Maggie did not hear the last words she was struggling against the
consciousness that Philips words had set her own discontent vibrating again as
it used to do
»I understand what you mean« she said »though I know so much less than you
do I used to think I could never bear life if it kept on being the same every
day and I must always be doing things of no consequence and never know
anything greater But dear Philip I think we are only like children that some
one who is wiser is taking care of Is it not right to resign ourselves
entirely whatever may be denied us I have found great peace in that for the
last two or three years even joy in subduing my own will«
»Yes Maggie« said Philip vehemently »and you are shutting yourself up in
a narrow selfdelusive fanaticism which is only a way of escaping pain by
starving into dulness all the highest powers of your nature Joy and peace are
not resignation resignation is the willing endurance of a pain that is not
allayed that you dont expect to be allayed Stupefaction is not resignation
and it is stupefaction to remain in ignorance to shut up all the avenues by
which the life of your fellowmen might become known to you I am not resigned
I am not sure that life is long enough to learn that lesson You are not
resigned you are only trying to stupefy yourself«
Maggies lips trembled she felt there was some truth in what Philip said
and yet there was a deeper consciousness that for any immediate application it
had to her conduct it was no better than falsity Her double impression
corresponded to the double impulse of the speaker Philip seriously believed
what he said but he said it with vehemence because it made an argument against
the resolution that opposed his wishes But Maggies face made more childlike
by the gathering tears touched him with a tenderer less egoistic feeling He
took her hand and said gently
»Dont let us think of such things in this short halfhour Maggie Let us
only care about being together We shall be friends in spite of separation
We shall always think of each other I shall be glad to live as long as you
are alive because I shall think there may always come a time when I can when
you will let me help you in some way«
»What a dear good brother you would have been Philip« said Maggie
smiling through the haze of tears »I think you would have made as much fuss
about me and been as pleased for me to love you as would have satisfied even
me You would have loved me well enough to bear with me and forgive me
everything That was what I always longed that Tom should do I was never
satisfied with a little of anything That is why it is better for me to do
without earthly happiness altogether I never felt that I had enough music
I wanted more instruments playing together I wanted voices to be fuller and
deeper Do you ever sing now Philip« she added abruptly as if she had
forgotten what went before
»Yes« he said »every day almost But my voice is only middling like
everything else in me«
»O sing me something just one song I may listen to that before I go
something you used to sing at Lorton on a Saturday afternoon when we had the
drawingroom all to ourselves and I put my apron over my head to listen«
»I know« said Philip and Maggie buried her face in her hands while he
sang sotto voce »Love in her eyes sits playing« and then said »Thats it
isnt it«
»O no I wont stay« said Maggie starting up »It will only haunt me Let
us walk Philip I must go home«
She moved away so that he was obliged to rise and follow her
»Maggie« he said in a tone of remonstrance »dont persist in this wilful
senseless privation It makes me wretched to see you benumbing and cramping your
nature in this way You were so full of life when you were a child I thought
you would be a brilliant woman all wit and bright imagination And it flashes
out in your face still until you draw that veil of dull quiescence over it«
»Why do you speak so bitterly to me Philip« said Maggie
»Because I foresee it will not end well you can never carry on this
selftorture«
»I shall have strength given me« said Maggie tremulously
»No you will not Maggie no one has strength given to do what is
unnatural It is mere cowardice to seek safety in negations No character
becomes strong in that way You will be thrown into the world some day and then
every rational satisfaction of your nature that you deny now will assault you
like a savage appetite«
Maggie started and paused looking at Philip with alarm in her face
»Philip how dare you shake me in this way You are a tempter«
»No I am not but love gives insight Maggie and insight often gives
foreboding Listen to me let me supply you with books do let me see you
sometimes be your brother and teacher as you said at Lorton It is less wrong
that you should see me than that you should be committing this long suicide«
Maggie felt unable to speak She shook her head and walked on in silence
till they came to the end of the Scotch firs and she put out her hand in sign
of parting
»Do you banish me from this place for ever then Maggie Surely I may come
and walk in it sometimes If I meet you by chance there is no concealment in
that«
It is the moment when our resolution seems about to become irrevocable
when the fatal iron gates are about to close upon us that tests our strength
Then after hours of clear reasoning and firm conviction we snatch at any
sophistry that will nullify our long struggles and bring us the defeat that we
love better than victory
Maggie felt her heart leap at this subterfuge of Philips and there passed
over her face that almost imperceptible shock which accompanies any relief He
saw it and they parted in silence
Philips sense of the situation was too complete for him not to be visited
with glancing fears lest he had been intervening too presumptuously in the
action of Maggies conscience perhaps for a selfish end But no he
persuaded himself his end was not selfish He had little hope that Maggie would
ever return the strong feeling he had for her and it must be better for
Maggies future life when these petty family obstacles to her freedom had
disappeared that the present should not be entirely sacrificed and that she
should have some opportunity of culture some interchange with a mind above the
vulgar level of those she was now condemned to live with If we only look far
enough off for the consequence of our actions we can always find some point in
the combination of results by which those actions can be justified by adopting
the point of view of a Providence who arranges results or of a philosopher who
traces them we shall find it possible to obtain perfect complacency in choosing
to do what is most agreeable to us in the present moment And it was in this way
that Philip justified his subtle efforts to overcome Maggies true prompting
against a concealment that would introduce doubleness into her own mind and
might cause new misery to those who had the primary natural claim on her But
there was a surplus of passion in him that made him half independent of
justifying motives His longing to see Maggie and make an element in her life
had in it some of that savage impulse to snatch an offered joy which springs
from a life in which the mental and bodily constitution have made pain
predominate He had not his full share in the common good of men he could not
even pass muster with the insignificant but must be singled out for pity and
excepted from what was a matter of course with others Even to Maggie he was an
exception it was clear that the thought of his being her lover had never
entered her mind
Do not think too hardly of Philip Ugly and deformed people have great need
of unusual virtues because they are likely to be extremely uncomfortable
without them but the theory that unusual virtues spring by a direct consequence
out of personal disadvantages as animals get thicker wool in severe climates
is perhaps a little overstrained The temptations of beauty are much dwelt upon
but I fancy they only bear the same relation to those of ugliness as the
temptation to excess at a feast where the delights are varied for eye and ear
as well as palate bears to the temptations that assail the desperation of
hunger Does not the Hunger Tower stand as the type of the utmost trial to what
is human in us
Philip had never been soothed by that mothers love which flows out to us in
the greater abundance because our need is greater which clings to us the more
tenderly because we are the less likely to be winners in the game of life and
the sense of his fathers affection and indulgence towards him was marred by the
keener perception of his fathers faults Kept aloof from all practical life as
Philip had been and by nature half feminine in sensitiveness he had some of
the womans intolerant repulsion towards worldliness and the deliberate pursuit
of sensual enjoyment and this one strong natural tie in his life his relation
as a son was like an aching limb to him Perhaps there is inevitably something
morbid in a human being who is in any way unfavourably excepted from ordinary
conditions until the good force has had time to triumph and it has rarely had
time for that at twoandtwenty That force was present in Philip in much
strength but the sun himself looks feeble through the morning mists
Chapter IV
Another LoveScene
Early in the following April nearly a year after that dubious parting you have
just witnessed you may if you like again see Maggie entering the Red Deeps
through the group of Scotch firs But it is early afternoon and not evening and
the edge of sharpness in the spring air makes her draw her large shawl close
about her and trip along rather quickly though she looks round as usual that
she may take in the sight of her beloved trees There is a more eager inquiring
look in her eyes than there was last June and a smile is hovering about her
lips as if some playful speech were awaiting the right hearer The hearer was
not long in appearing
»Take back your Corinne« said Maggie drawing a book from under her shawl
»You were right in telling me she would do me no good but you were wrong in
thinking I should wish to be like her«
»Wouldnt you really like to be a tenth Muse then Maggie« said Philip
looking up in her face as we look at a first parting in the clouds that promises
us a bright heaven once more
»Not at all« said Maggie laughing »The Muses were uncomfortable
goddesses I think obliged always to carry rolls and musical instruments about
with them If I carried a harp in this climate you know I must have a green
baise cover for it and I should be sure to leave it behind me by mistake«
»You agree with me in not liking Corinne then«
»I didnt finish the book« said Maggie »As soon as I came to the
blondhaired young lady reading in the park I shut it up and determined to
read no further I foresaw that that lightcomplexioned girl would win away all
the love from Corinne and make her miserable Im determined to read no more
books where the blondhaired women carry away all the happiness I should begin
to have a prejudice against them If you could give me some story now where
the dark woman triumphs it would restore the balance I want to avenge Rebecca
and Flora MacIvor and Minna and all the rest of the dark unhappy ones Since
you are my tutor you ought to preserve my mind from prejudices you are always
arguing against prejudices«
»Well perhaps you will avenge the dark women in your own person and carry
away all the love from your cousin Lucy She is sure to have some handsome young
man of St Oggs at her feet now and you have only to shine upon him your fair
little cousin will be quite quenched in your beams«
»Philip that is not pretty of you to apply my nonsense to anything real«
said Maggie looking hurt »As if I with my old gowns and want of all
accomplishments could be a rival of dear little Lucy who knows and does all
sorts of charming things and is ten times prettier than I am even if I were
odious and base enough to wish to be her rival Besides I never go to aunt
Deanes when any one is there it is only because dear Lucy is good and loves
me that she comes to see me and will have me go to see her sometimes«
»Maggie« said Philip with surprise »it is not like you to take
playfulness literally You must have been in St Oggs this morning and brought
away a slight infection of dulness«
»Well« said Maggie smiling »if you meant that for a joke it was a poor
one but I thought it was a very good reproof I thought you wanted to remind me
that I am vain and wish every one to admire me most But it isnt for that
that Im jealous for the dark women not because Im dark myself Its because
I always care the most about the unhappy people if the blond girl were
forsaken I should like her best I always take the side of the rejected lover
in the stories«
»Then you would never have the heart to reject one yourself should you
Maggie« said Philip flushing a little
»I dont know« said Maggie hesitatingly Then with a bright smile »I
think perhaps I could if he were very conceited and yet if he got extremely
humiliated afterwards I should relent«
»Ive often wondered Maggie« Philip said with some effort »whether you
wouldnt really be more likely to love a man that other women were not likely to
love«
»That would depend on what they didnt like him for« said Maggie laughing
»He might be very disagreeable He might look at me through an eyeglass stuck
in his eye making a hideous face as young Torry does I should think other
women are not fond of that but I never felt any pity for young Torry Ive
never any pity for conceited people because I think they carry their comfort
about with them«
»But suppose Maggie suppose it was a man who was not conceited who felt
he had nothing to be conceited about who had been marked from childhood for a
peculiar kind of suffering and to whom you were the daystar of his life who
loved you worshipped you so entirely that he felt it happiness enough for him
if you would let him see you at rare moments «
Philip paused with a pang of dread lest his confession should cut short this
very happiness a pang of the same dread that had kept his love mute through
long months A rush of selfconsciousness told him that he was besotted to have
said all this Maggies manner this morning had been as unconstrained and
indifferent as ever
But she was not looking indifferent now Struck with the unusual emotion in
Philips tone she had turned quickly to look at him and as he went on
speaking a great change came over her face a flush and slight spasm of the
features such as we see in people who hear some news that will require them to
readjust their conceptions of the past She was quite silent and walking on
towards the trunk of a fallen tree she sat down as if she had no strength to
spare for her muscles She was trembling
»Maggie« said Philip getting more and more alarmed in every fresh moment
of silence »I was a fool to say it forget that Ive said it I shall be
contented if things can be as they were«
The distress with which he spoke urged Maggie to say something »I am so
surprised Philip I had not thought of it« And the effort to say this brought
the tears down too
»Has it made you hate me Maggie« said Philip impetuously »Do you think
Im a presumptuous fool«
»O Philip« said Maggie »how can you think I have such feelings as if I
were not grateful for any love But but I had never thought of your being my
lover It seemed so far off like a dream only like one of the stories one
imagines that I should ever have a lover«
»Then can you bear to think of me as your lover Maggie« said Philip
seating himself by her and taking her hand in the elation of a sudden hope »
Do you love me«
Maggie turned rather pale this direct question seemed not easy to answer
But her eyes met Philips which were in this moment liquid and beautiful with
beseeching love She spoke with hesitation yet with sweet simple girlish
tenderness
»I think I could hardly love any one better there is nothing but what I
love you for« She paused a little while and then added »But it will be better
for us not to say any more about it wont it dear Philip You know we
couldnt even be friends if our friendship were discovered I have never felt
that I was right in giving way about seeing you though it has been so precious
to me in some ways and now the fear comes upon me strongly again that it will
lead to evil«
»But no evil has come Maggie and if you had been guided by that fear
before you would only have lived through another dreary benumbing year instead
of reviving into your real self«
Maggie shook her head »It has been very sweet I know all the talking
together and the books and the feeling that I had the walk to look forward to
when I could tell you the thoughts that had come into my head while I was away
from you But it has made me restless it has made me think a great deal about
the world and I have impatient thoughts again I get weary of my home and
then it cuts me to the heart afterwards that I should ever have felt weary of
my father and mother I think what you call being benumbed was better better
for me for then my selfish desires were benumbed«
Philip had risen again and was walking backwards and forwards impatiently
»No Maggie you have wrong ideas of selfconquest as Ive often told you
What you call selfconquest blinding and deafening yourself to all but one
train of impressions is only the culture of monomania in a nature like yours«
He had spoken with some irritation but now he sat down by her again and
took her hand
»Dont think of the past now Maggie think only of our love If you can
really cling to me with all your heart every obstacle will be overcome in time
we need only wait I can live on hope Look at me Maggie tell me again it is
possible for you to love me Dont look away from me to that cloven tree it is
a bad omen«
She turned her large dark glance upon him with a sad smile
»Come Maggie say one kind word or else you were better to me at Lorton
You asked me if I should like you to kiss me dont you remember and you
promised to kiss me when you met me again You never kept the promise«
The recollection of that childish time came as a sweet relief to Maggie It
made the present moment less strange to her She kissed him almost as simply and
quietly as she had done when she was twelve years old Philips eyes flashed
with delight but his next words were words of discontent
»You dont seem happy enough Maggie you are forcing yourself to say you
love me out of pity«
»No Philip« said Maggie shaking her head in her old childish way »Im
telling you the truth It is all new and strange to me but I dont think I
could love any one better than I love you I should like always to live with you
to make you happy I have always been happy when I have been with you There
is only one thing I will not do for your sake I will never do anything to wound
my father You must never ask that from me«
»No Maggie I will ask nothing I will bear everything Ill wait another
year only for a kiss if you will only give me the first place in your heart«
»No« said Maggie smiling »I wont make you wait so long as that« But
then looking serious again she added as she rose from her seat
»But what would your own father say Philip O it is quite impossible we
can ever be more than friends brother and sister in secret as we have been
Let us give up thinking of everything else«
»No Maggie I cant give you up unless you are deceiving me unless you
really only care for me as if I were your brother Tell me the truth«
»Indeed I do Philip What happiness have I ever had so great as being with
you since I was a little girl the days Tom was good to me And your mind is
a sort of world to me you can tell me all I want to know I think I should
never be tired of being with you«
They were walking hand in hand looking at each other Maggie indeed was
hurrying along for she felt it time to be gone But the sense that their
parting was near made her more anxious lest she should have unintentionally
left some painful impression on Philips mind It was one of those dangerous
moments when speech is at once sincere and deceptive when feeling rising high
above its average depth leaves floodmarks which are never reached again
They stopped to part among the Scotch firs
»Then my life will be filled with hope Maggie and I shall be happier than
other men in spite of all We do belong to each other for always whether we
are apart or together«
»Yes Philip I should like never to part I should like to make your life
very happy«
»I am waiting for something else I wonder whether it will come«
Maggie smiled with glistening tears and then stooped her tall head to kiss
the pale face that was full of pleading timid love like a womans
She had a moment of real happiness then a moment of belief that if there
were sacrifice in this love it was all the richer and more satisfying
She turned away and hurried home feeling that in the hour since she had
trodden this road before a new era had begun for her The tissue of vague
dreams must now get narrower and narrower and all the threads of thought and
emotion be gradually absorbed in the woof of her actual daily life
Chapter V
The Cloven Tree
Secrets are rarely betrayed or discovered according to any programme our fear
has sketched out Fear is almost always haunted by terrible dramatic scenes
which recur in spite of the bestargued probabilities against them and during a
year that Maggie had had the burthen of concealment on her mind the possibility
of discovery had continually presented itself under the form of a sudden meeting
with her father or Tom when she was walking with Philip in the Red Deeps She
was aware that this was not one of the most likely events but it was the scene
that most completely symbolised her inward dread Those slight indirect
suggestions which are dependent on apparently trivial coincidences and
incalculable states of mind are the favourite machinery of Fact but are not
the stuff in which imagination is apt to work
Certainly one of the persons about whom Maggies fears were farthest from
troubling themselves was her aunt Pullet on whom seeing that she did not live
in St Oggs and was neither sharpeyed nor sharptempered it would surely have
been quite whimsical of them to fix rather than on aunt Glegg And yet the
channel of fatality the pathway of the lightning was no other than aunt
Pullet She did not live at St Oggs but the road from Garum Firs lay by the
Red Deeps at the end opposite that by which Maggie entered
The day after Maggies last meeting with Philip being a Sunday on which Mr
Pullet was bound to appear in funeral hatband and scarf at St Oggs church
Mrs Pullet made this the occasion of dining with sister Glegg and taking tea
with poor sister Tulliver Sunday was the one day in the week on which Tom was
at home in the afternoon and today the brighter spirits he had been in of late
had flowed over in unusually cheerful open chat with his father and in the
invitation »Come Magsie you come too« when he strolled out with his mother
in the garden to see the advancing cherryblossoms He had been better pleased
with Maggie since she had been less odd and ascetic he was even getting rather
proud of her several persons had remarked in his hearing that his sister was a
very fine girl Today there was a peculiar brightness in her face due in
reality to an undercurrent of excitement which had as much doubt and pain as
pleasure in it but it might pass for a sign of happiness
»You look very well my dear« said aunt Pullet shaking her head sadly as
they sat round the tea »I niver thought your girl ud be so goodlooking
Bessy But you must wear pink my dear that blue thing as your aunt Glegg gave
you turns you into a crowflower Jane never was tasty Why dont you wear that
gown o mine«
»It is so pretty and so smart aunt I think its too showy for me at
least for my other clothes that I must wear with it«
»To be sure it ud be unbecoming if it wasnt well known youve got them
belonging to you as can afford to give you such things when theyve done with
em themselves It stands to reason I must give my own niece clothes now and
then such things as I buy every year and never wear anything out And as for
Lucy theres no giving to her for shes got everything o the choicest sister
Deane may well hold her head up though she looks dreadful yallow poor thing
I doubt this liver complaint ull carry her off Thats what this new vicar
this Dr Kenn said in the funeral sermon today«
»Ah hes a wonderful preacher by all account isnt he Sophy« said Mrs
Tulliver
»Why Lucy had got a collar on this blessed day« continued Mrs Pullet
with her eyes fixed in a ruminating manner »as I dont say I havent got as
good but I must look out my best to match it«
»Miss Lucys called the bell o St Oggs they say thats a curous word«
observed Mr Pullet on whom the mysteries of etymology sometimes fell with an
oppressive weight
»Pooh« said Mr Tulliver jealous for Maggie »shes a small thing not
much of a figure But fine feathers make fine birds I see nothing to admire so
much in those diminutive women they look silly by the side o the men out o
proportion When I chose my wife I chose her the right size neither too
little nor too big«
The poor wife with her withered beauty smiled complacently
»But the men arent all big« said uncle Pullet not without some
selfreference »a young fellow may be goodlooking and yet not be a sixfoot
like Master Tom here«
»Ah its poor talking about littleness and bigness anybody may think
its a mercy theyre straight« said aunt Pullet »Theres that mismade son o
Lawyer Wakems I saw him at church today Dear dear to think o the
property hes like to have and they say hes very queer and lonely doesnt
like much company I shouldnt wonder if he goes out of his mind for we never
come along the road but hes ascrambling out o the trees and brambles at the
Red Deeps«
This wide statement by which Mrs Pullet represented the fact that she had
twice seen Philip at the spot indicated produced an effect on Maggie which was
all the stronger because Tom sate opposite her and she was intensely anxious to
look indifferent At Philips name she had blushed and the blush deepened every
instant from consciousness until the mention of the Red Deeps made her feel as
if the whole secret were betrayed and she dared not even hold her teaspoon
lest she should show how she trembled She sat with her hands clasped under the
table not daring to look round Happily her father was seated on the same side
with herself beyond her uncle Pullet and could not see her face without
stooping forward Her mothers voice brought the first relief turning the
conversation for Mrs Tulliver was always alarmed when the name of Wakem was
mentioned in her husbands presence Gradually Maggie recovered composure enough
to look up her eyes met Toms but he turned away his head immediately and she
went to bed that night wondering if he had gathered any suspicion from her
confusion Perhaps not perhaps he would think it was only her alarm at her
aunts mention of Wakem before her father that was the interpretation her
mother had put on it To her father Wakem was like a disfiguring disease of
which he was obliged to endure the consciousness but was exasperated to have
the existence recognised by others and no amount of sensitiveness in her about
her father could be surprising Maggie thought
But Tom was too keensighted to rest satisfied with such an interpretation
he had seen clearly enough that there was something distinct from anxiety about
her father in Maggies excessive confusion In trying to recall all the details
that could give shape to his suspicions he remembered only lately hearing his
mother scold Maggie for walking in the Red Deeps when the ground was wet and
bringing home shoes clogged with red soil still Tom retaining all his old
repulsion for Philips deformity shrank from attributing to his sister the
probability of feeling more than a friendly interest in such an unfortunate
exception to the common run of men Toms was a nature which had a sort of
superstitious repugnance to everything exceptional A love for a deformed man
would be odious in any woman in a sister intolerable But if she had been
carrying on any kind of intercourse whatever with Philip a stop must be put to
it at once she was disobeying her fathers strongest feelings and her brothers
express commands besides compromising herself by secret meetings He left home
the next morning in that watchful state of mind which turns the most ordinary
course of things into pregnant coincidences
That afternoon about halfpast three oclock Tom was standing on the
wharf talking with Bob Jakin about the probability of the good ship Adelaide
coming in in a day or two with results highly important to both of them
»Eh« said Bob parenthetically as he looked over the fields on the other
side of the river »there goes that crooked young Wakem I know him or his
shadder as far off as I can see em Im allays lighting on him o that side the
river«
A sudden thought seemed to have darted through Toms mind »I must go Bob«
he said »Ive something to attend to« hurrying off to the warehouse where he
left notice for some one to take his place he was called away home on
peremptory business
The swiftest pace and the shortest road took him to the gate and he was
pausing to open it deliberately that he might walk into the house with an
appearance of perfect composure when Maggie came out at the front door in
bonnet and shawl His conjecture was fulfilled and he waited for her at the
gate She started violently when she saw him
»Tom how is it you are come home Is there anything the matter« Maggie
spoke in a low tremulous voice
»Im come to walk with you to the Red Deeps and meet Philip Wakem« said
Tom the central fold in his brow which had become habitual with him deepening
as he spoke
Maggie stood helpless pale and cold By some means then Tom knew
everything At last she said »Im not going« and turned round
»Yes you are but I want to speak to you first Where is my father«
»Out on horseback«
»And my mother«
»In the yard I think with the poultry«
»I can go in then without her seeing me«
They walked in together and Tom entering the parlour said to Maggie
»Come in here«
She obeyed and he closed the door behind her
»Now Maggie tell me this instant everything that has passed between you
and Philip Wakem«
»Does my father know anything« said Maggie still trembling
»No« said Tom indignantly »But he shall know if you attempt to use
deceit towards me any further«
»I dont wish to use deceit« said Maggie flushing into resentment at
hearing this word applied to her conduct
»Tell me the whole truth then«
»Perhaps you know it«
»Never mind whether I know it or not Tell me exactly what has happened or
my father shall know everything«
»I tell it for my fathers sake then«
»Yes it becomes you to profess affection for your father when you have
despised his strongest feelings«
»You never do wrong Tom« said Maggie tauntingly
»Not if I know it« answered Tom with proud sincerity »But I have nothing
to say to you beyond this tell me what has passed between you and Philip
Wakem When did you first meet him in the Red Deeps«
»A year ago« said Maggie quietly Toms severity gave her a certain fund
of defiance and kept her sense of error in abeyance »You need ask me no more
questions We have been friendly a year We have met and walked together often
He has lent me books«
»Is that all« said Tom looking straight at her with his frown
Maggie paused a moment then determined to make an end of Toms right to
accuse her of deceit she said haughtily
»No not quite all On Saturday he told me that he loved me I didnt think
of it before then I had only thought of him as an old friend«
»And you encouraged him« said Tom with an expression of disgust
»I told him that I loved him too«
Tom was silent a few moments looking on the ground and frowning with his
hands in his pockets At last he looked up and said coldly
»Now then Maggie there are but two courses for you to take either you
vow solemnly to me with your hand on my fathers Bible that you will never
have another meeting or speak another word in private with Philip Wakem or you
refuse and I tell my father everything and this month when by my exertions he
might be made happy once more you will cause him the blow of knowing that you
are a disobedient deceitful daughter who throws away her own respectability by
clandestine meetings with the son of a man that has helped to ruin her father
Choose« Tom ended with cold decision going up to the large Bible drawing it
forward and opening it at the flyleaf where the writing was
It was a crushing alternative to Maggie
»Tom« she said urged out of pride into pleading »dont ask me that I
will promise you to give up all intercourse with Philip if you will let me see
him once or even only write to him and explain everything to give it up as
long as it would ever cause any pain to my father I feel something for
Philip too He is not happy«
»I dont wish to hear anything of your feelings I have said exactly what I
mean choose and quickly lest my mother should come in«
»If I give you my word that will be as strong a bond to me as if I laid my
hand on the Bible I dont require that to bind me«
»Do what I require« said Tom »I cant trust you Maggie There is no
consistency in you Put your hand on this Bible and say I renounce all private
speech and intercourse with Philip Wakem from this time forth Else you will
bring shame on us all and grief on my father and what is the use of my
exerting myself and giving up everything else for the sake of paying my fathers
debts if you are to bring madness and vexation on him just when he might be
easy and hold up his head once more«
»O Tom will the debts be paid soon« said Maggie clasping her hands with
a sudden flash of joy across her wretchedness
»If things turn out as I expect« said Tom »But« he added his voice
trembling with indignation »while I have been contriving and working that my
father may have some peace of mind before he dies working for the
respectability of our family you have done all you can to destroy both«
Maggie felt a deep movement of compunction for the moment her mind ceased
to contend against what she felt to be cruel and unreasonable and in her
selfblame she justified her brother
»Tom« she said in a low voice »it was wrong of me but I was so lonely
and I was sorry for Philip And I think enmity and hatred are wicked«
»Nonsense« said Tom »Your duty was clear enough Say no more but promise
in the words I told you«
»I must speak to Philip once more«
»You will go with me now and speak to him«
»I give you my word not to meet him or write to him again without your
knowledge That is the only thing I will say I will put my hand on the Bible if
you like«
»Say it then«
Maggie laid her hand on the page of manuscript and repeated the promise Tom
closed the book and said »Now let us go«
Not a word was spoken as they walked along Maggie was suffering in
anticipation of what Philip was about to suffer and dreading the galling words
that would fall on him from Toms lips but she felt it was in vain to attempt
anything but submission Tom had his terrible clutch on her conscience and her
deepest dread she writhed under the demonstrable truth of the character he had
given to her conduct and yet her whole soul rebelled against it as unfair from
its incompleteness He meanwhile felt the impetus of his indignation diverted
towards Philip He did not know how much of an old boyish repulsion and of mere
personal pride and animosity was concerned in the bitter severity of the words
by which he meant to do the duty of a son and a brother Tom was not given to
inquire subtly into his own motives any more than into other matters of an
intangible kind he was quite sure that his own motives as well as actions were
good else he would have had nothing to do with them
Maggies only hope was that something might for the first time have
prevented Philip from coming Then there would be delay then she might get
Toms permission to write to him Her heart beat with double violence when they
got under the Scotch firs It was the last moment of suspense she thought
Philip always met her soon after she got beyond them But they passed across the
more open green space and entered the narrow bushy path by the mound Another
turning and they came so close upon him that both Tom and Philip stopped
suddenly within a yard of each other There was a moments silence in which
Philip darted a look of inquiry at Maggies face He saw an answer there in the
pale parted lips and the terrified tension of the large eyes Her imagination
always rushing extravagantly beyond an immediate impression saw her tall strong
brother grasping the feeble Philip bodily crushing him and trampling on him
»Do you call this acting the part of a man and a gentleman sir« Tom said
in a voice of harsh scorn as soon as Philips eyes were turned on him again
»What do you mean« answered Philip haughtily
»Mean Stand farther from me lest I should lay hands on you and Ill tell
you what I mean I mean taking advantage of a young girls foolishness and
ignorance to get her to have secret meetings with you I mean daring to trifle
with the respectability of a family that has a good and honest name to support«
»I deny that« interrupted Philip impetuously »I could never trifle with
anything that affected your sisters happiness She is dearer to me than she is
to you I honour her more than you can ever honour her I would give up my life
to her«
»Dont talk highflown nonsense to me sir Do you mean to pretend that you
didnt know it would be injurious to her to meet you here week after week Do
you pretend you had any right to make professions of love to her even if you
had been a fit husband for her when neither her father nor your father would
ever consent to a marriage between you And you you to try and worm yourself
into the affections of a handsome girl who is not eighteen and has been shut
out from the world by her fathers misfortunes Thats your crooked notion of
honour is it I call it base treachery I call it taking advantage of
circumstances to win whats too good for you what youd never get by fair
means«
»It is manly of you to talk in this way to me« said Philip bitterly his
whole frame shaken by violent emotions »Giants have an immemorial right to
stupidity and insolent abuse You are incapable even of understanding what I
feel for your sister I feel so much for her that I could even desire to be at
friendship with you«
»I should be very sorry to understand your feelings« said Tom with
scorching contempt »What I wish is that you should understand me that I shall
take care of my sister and that if you dare to make the least attempt to come
near her or to write to her or to keep the slightest hold on her mind your
puny miserable body that ought to have put some modesty into your mind shall
not protect you Ill thrash you Ill hold you up to public scorn Who
wouldnt laugh at the idea of your turning lover to a fine girl«
»Tom I will not bear it I will listen no longer« Maggie burst out in a
convulsed voice
»Stay Maggie« said Philip making a strong effort to speak Then looking
at Tom »You have dragged your sister here I suppose that she may stand by
while you threaten and insult me These naturally seemed to you the right means
to influence me But you are mistaken Let your sister speak If she says she is
bound to give me up I shall abide by her wishes to the slightest word«
»It was for my fathers sake Philip« said Maggie imploringly »Tom
threatens to tell my father and he couldnt bear it I have promised I have
vowed solemnly that we will not have any intercourse without my brothers
knowledge«
»It is enough Maggie I shall not change but I wish you to hold yourself
entirely free But trust me remember that I can never seek for anything but
good to what belongs to you«
»Yes« said Tom exasperated by this attitude of Philips »you can talk of
seeking good for her and what belongs to her now did you seek her good before«
»I did at some risk perhaps But I wished her to have a friend for life
who would cherish her who would do her more justice than a coarse and
narrowminded brother that she has always lavished her affections on«
»Yes my way of befriending her is different from yours and Ill tell you
what is my way Ill save her from disobeying and disgracing her father Ill
save her from throwing herself away on you from making herself a
laughingstock from being flouted by a man like your father because shes not
good enough for his son You know well enough what sort of justice and
cherishing you were preparing for her Im not to be imposed upon by fine words
I can see what actions mean Come away Maggie«
He seized Maggies right wrist as he spoke and she put out her left hand
Philip clasped it an instant with one eager look and then hurried away
Tom and Maggie walked on in silence for some yards He was still holding her
wrist tightly as if he were compelling a culprit from the scene of action At
last Maggie with a violent snatch drew her hand away and her pentup
longgathered irritation burst into utterance
»Dont suppose that I think you are right Tom or that I bow to your will
I despise the feelings you have shown in speaking to Philip I detest your
insulting unmanly allusions to his deformity You have been reproaching other
people all your life you have been always sure you yourself are right it is
because you have not a mind large enough to see that there is anything better
than your own conduct and your own petty aims«
»Certainly« said Tom coolly »I dont see that your conduct is better or
your aims either If your conduct and Philip Wakems conduct has been right
why are you ashamed of its being known Answer me that I know what I have aimed
at in my conduct and Ive succeeded pray what good has your conduct brought
to you or any one else«
»I dont want to defend myself« said Maggie still with vehemence »I know
Ive been wrong often continually But yet sometimes when I have done wrong
it has been because I have feelings that you would be the better for if you had
them If you were in fault ever if you had done anything very wrong I should
be sorry for the pain it brought you I should not want punishment to be heaped
on you But you have always enjoyed punishing me you have always been hard and
cruel to me even when I was a little girl and always loved you better than any
one else in the world you would let me go crying to bed without forgiving me
You have no pity you have no sense of your own imperfection and your own sins
It is a sin to be hard it is not fitting for a mortal for a Christian You
are nothing but a Pharisee You thank God for nothing but your own virtues you
think they are great enough to win you everything else You have not even a
vision of feelings by the side of which your shining virtues are mere darkness«
»Well« said Tom with cold scorn »if your feelings are so much better than
mine let me see you show them in some other way than by conduct thats likely
to disgrace us all than by ridiculous flights first into one extreme and then
into another Pray how have you shown your love that you talk of either to me
or my father By disobeying and deceiving us I have a different way of showing
my affection«
»Because you are a man Tom and have power and can do something in the
world«
»Then if you can do nothing submit to those that can«
»So I will submit to what I acknowledge and feel to be right I will submit
even to what is unreasonable from my father but I will not submit to it from
you You boast of your virtues as if they purchased you a right to be cruel and
unmanly as youve been today Dont suppose I would give up Philip Wakem in
obedience to you The deformity you insult would make me cling to him and care
for him the more«
»Very well that is your view of things« said Tom more coldly than ever
»you need say no more to show me what a wide distance there is between us Let
us remember that in future and be silent«
Tom went back to St Oggs to fulfil an appointment with his uncle Deane
and receive directions about a journey on which he was to set out the next
morning
Maggie went up to her own room to pour out all that indignant remonstrance
against which Toms mind was close barred in bitter tears Then when the first
burst of unsatisfied anger was gone by came the recollection of that quiet time
before the pleasure which had ended in todays misery had perturbed the
clearness and simplicity of her life She used to think in that time that she
had made great conquests and won a lasting stand on serene heights above
worldly temptations and conflict And here she was down again in the thick of a
hot strife with her own and others passions Life was not so short then and
perfect rest was not so near as she had dreamed when she was two years younger
There was more struggle for her perhaps more falling If she had felt that she
was entirely wrong and that Tom had been entirely right she could sooner have
recovered more inward harmony but now her penitence and submission were
constantly obstructed by resentment that would present itself to her no
otherwise than as a just indignation Her heart bled for Philip she went on
recalling the insults that had been flung at him with so vivid a conception of
what he had felt under them that it was almost like a sharp bodily pain to her
making her beat the floor with her foot and tighten her fingers on her palm
And yet how was it that she was now and then conscious of a certain dim
background of relief in the forced separation from Philip Surely it was only
because the sense of a deliverance from concealment was welcome at any cost
Chapter VI
The HardWon Triumph
Three weeks later when Dorlcote Mill was at its prettiest moment in all the
year the great chestnuts in blossom and the grass all deep and daisied Tom
Tulliver came home to it earlier than usual in the evening and as he passed
over the bridge he looked with the old deeprooted affection at the respectable
red brick house which always seemed cheerful and inviting outside let the
rooms be as bare and the hearts as sad as they might inside There is a very
pleasant light in Toms bluegrey eyes as he glances at the housewindows that
fold in his brow never disappears but it is not unbecoming it seems to imply a
strength of will that may possibly be without harshness when the eyes and mouth
have their gentlest expression His firm step becomes quicker and the corners
of his mouth rebel against the compression which is meant to forbid a smile
The eyes in the parlour were not turned towards the bridge just then and
the group there was sitting in unexpectant silence Mr Tulliver in his
armchair tired with a long ride and ruminating with a worn look fixed
chiefly on Maggie who was bending over her sewing while her mother was making
the tea
They all looked up with surprise when they heard the wellknown foot
»Why whats up now Tom« said his father »Youre a bit earlier than
usual«
»O there was nothing more for me to do so I came away Well mother«
Tom went up to his mother and kissed her a sign of unusual goodhumour with
him Hardly a word or look had passed between him and Maggie in all the three
weeks but his usual incommunicativeness at home prevented this from being
noticeable to their parents
»Father« said Tom when they had finished tea »do you know exactly how
much money there is in the tin box«
»Only a hundred and ninetythree pound« said Mr Tulliver »Youve brought
less o late but young fellows like to have their own way with their money
Though I didnt do as I liked before I was of age« He spoke with rather timid
discontent
»Are you quite sure thats the sum father« said Tom »I wish you would
take the trouble to fetch the tin box down I think you have perhaps made a
mistake«
»How should I make a mistake« said his father sharply »Ive counted it
often enough but I can fetch it if you wont believe me«
It was always an incident Mr Tulliver liked in his gloomy life to fetch
the tin box and count the money
»Dont go out of the room mother« said Tom as he saw her moving when his
father was gone upstairs
»And isnt Maggie to go« said Mrs Tulliver »because somebody must take
away the things«
»Just as she likes« said Tom indifferently
That was a cutting word to Maggie Her heart had leaped with the sudden
conviction that Tom was going to tell their father the debts could be paid and
Tom would have let her be absent when that news was told But she carried away
the tray and came back immediately The feeling of injury on her own behalf
could not predominate at that moment
Tom drew to the corner of the table near his father when the tin box was set
down and opened and the red evening light falling on them made conspicuous the
worn sour gloom of the darkeyed father and the suppressed joy in the face of
the faircomplexioned son The mother and Maggie sat at the other end of the
table the one in blank patience the other in palpitating expectation
Mr Tulliver counted out the money setting it in order on the table and
then said glancing sharply at Tom
»There now you see I was right enough«
He paused looking at the money with bitter despondency
»Theres more nor three hundred wanting itll be a fine while before I can
save that Losing that fortytwo pound wi the corn was a sore job This worlds
been too many for me Its took four year to lay this by its much if Im
above ground for another four year I must trusten to you to pay em« he
went on with a trembling voice »if you keep i the same mind now youre coming
o age But youre like enough to bury me first«
He looked up in Toms face with a querulous desire for some assurance
»No father« said Tom speaking with energetic decision though there was
tremor discernible in his voice too »you will live to see the debts all paid
You shall pay them with your own hand«
His tone implied something more than mere hopefulness or resolution A
slight electric shock seemed to pass through Mr Tulliver and he kept his eyes
fixed on Tom with a look of eager inquiry while Maggie unable to restrain
herself rushed to her fathers side and knelt down by him Tom was silent a
little while before he went on
»A good while ago my uncle Glegg lent me a little money to trade with and
that has answered I have three hundred and twenty pounds in the bank«
His mothers arms were round his neck as soon as the last words were
uttered and she said halfcrying
»O my boy I knew youd make iverything right again when you got a man«
But his father was silent the flood of emotion hemmed in all power of
speech Both Tom and Maggie were struck with fear lest the shock of joy might
even be fatal But the blessed relief of tears came The broad chest heaved the
muscles of the face gave way and the greyhaired man burst into loud sobs The
fit of weeping gradually subsided and he sat quiet recovering the regularity
of his breathing At last he looked up at his wife and said in a gentle tone
»Bessy you must come and kiss me now the lad has made you amends Youll
see a bit o comfort again belike«
When she had kissed him and he had held her hand a minute his thoughts
went back to the money
»I wish youd brought me the money to look at Tom« he said fingering the
sovereigns on the table »I should ha felt surer«
»You shall see it tomorrow father« said Tom »My uncle Deane has
appointed the creditors to meet tomorrow at the Golden Lion and he has ordered
a dinner for them at two oclock My uncle Glegg and he will both be there It
was advertised in the Messenger on Saturday«
»Then Wakem knows ont« said Mr Tulliver his eye kindling with triumphant
fire »Ah« he went on with a longdrawn guttural enunciation taking out his
snuffbox the only luxury he had left himself and tapping it with something of
his old air of defiance »Ill get from under his thumb now though I must
leave th old mill I thought I could ha held out to die here but I cant
Weve got a glass o nothing in the house have we Bessy«
»Yes« said Mrs Tulliver drawing out her muchreduced bunch of keys
»theres some brandy sister Deane brought me when I was ill«
»Get it me then get it me I feel a bit weak«
»Tom my lad« he said in a stronger voice when he had taken some
brandyandwater »you shall make a speech to em Ill tell em its you as got
the best part o the money Theyll see Im honest at last and ha got an
honest son Ah Wakem ud be fine and glad to have a son like mine a fine
straight fellow istead o that poor crooked creatur Youll prosper i the
world my lad youll maybe see the day when Wakem and his son ull be a round
or two below you Youll like enough be taen into partnership as your uncle
Deane was before you youre in the right way fort and then theres nothing
to hinder your getting rich And if ever youre rich enough mind this
try and get th old mill again«
Mr Tulliver threw himself back in his chair his mind which had so long
been the home of nothing but bitter discontent and foreboding suddenly filled
by the magic of joy with visions of good fortune But some subtle influence
prevented him from foreseeing the good fortune as happening to himself
»Shake hands wi me my lad« he said suddenly putting out his hand »Its
a great thing when a man can be proud as hes got a good son Ive had that
luck«
Tom never lived to taste another moment so delicious as that and Maggie
couldnt help forgetting her own grievances Tom was good and in the sweet
humility that springs in us all in moments of true admiration and gratitude she
felt that the faults he had to pardon in her had never been redeemed as his
faults were She felt no jealousy this evening that for the first time she
seemed to be thrown into the background in her fathers mind
There was much more talk before bed time Mr Tulliver naturally wanted
to hear all the particulars of Toms trading adventures and he listened with
growing excitement and delight Ho was curious to know what had been said on
every occasion if possible what had been thought and Bob Jakins part in the
business threw him into peculiar outbursts of sympathy with the triumphant
knowingness of that remarkable packman Bobs juvenile history so far as it had
come under Mr Tullivers knowledge was recalled with that sense of astonishing
promise it displayed which is observable in all reminiscences of the childhood
of great men
It was well that there was this interest of narrative to keep under the
vague but fierce sense of triumph over Wakem which would otherwise have been
the channel his joy would have rushed into with dangerous force Even as it was
that feeling from time to time gave threats of its ultimate mastery in sudden
bursts of irrelevant exclamation
It was long before Mr Tulliver got to sleep that night and the sleep when
it came was filled with vivid dreams At half past five oclock in the morning
when Mrs Tulliver was already rising he alarmed her by starting up with a sort
of smothered shout and looking round in a bewildered way at the walls of the
bedroom
»Whats the matter Mr Tulliver« said his wife He looked at her still
with a puzzled expression and said at last
»Ah I was dreaming did I make a noise I thought Id got hold
of him«
Chapter VII
A Day of Reckoning
Mr Tulliver was an essentially sober man able to take his glass and not
averse to it but never exceeding the bounds of moderation He had naturally an
active Hotspur temperament which did not crave liquid fire to set it aglow
his impetuosity was usually equal to an exciting occasion without any such
reinforcements and his desire for the brandyandwater implied that the too
sudden joy had fallen with a dangerous shock on a frame depressed by four years
of gloom and unaccustomed hard fare But that first doubtful tottering moment
passed he seemed to gather strength with his gathering excitement and the next
day when he was seated at table with his creditors his eye kindling and his
cheek flushed with the consciousness that he was about to make an honourable
figure once more he looked more like the proud confident warmhearted and
warmtempered Tulliver of old times than might have seemed possible to any one
who had met him a week before riding along as had been his wont for the last
four years since the sense of failure and debt had been upon him with his head
hanging down casting brief unwilling looks on those who forced themselves on
his notice He made his speech asserting his honest principles with his old
confident eagerness alluding to the rascals and the luck that had been against
him but that he had triumphed over to some extent by hard efforts and the aid
of a good son and winding up with the story of how Tom had got the best part of
the needful money But the streak of irritation and hostile triumph seemed to
melt for a little while into purer fatherly pride and pleasure when Toms
health having been proposed and uncle Deane having taken occasion to say a few
words of eulogy on his general character and conduct Tom himself got up and
made the single speech of his life It could hardly have been briefer he
thanked the gentlemen for the honour they had done him He was glad that he had
been able to help his father in proving his integrity and regaining his honest
name and for his own part he hoped he should never undo that work and
disgrace that name But the applause that followed was so great and Tom looked
so gentlemanly as well as tall and straight that Mr Tulliver remarked in an
explanatory manner to his friends on his right and left that he had spent a
deal of money on his sons education
The party broke up in very sober fashion at five oclock Tom remained in St
Oggs to attend to some business and Mr Tulliver mounted his horse to go home
and describe the memorable things that had been said and done to »poor Bessy
and the little wench« The air of excitement that hung about him was but faintly
due to good cheer or any stimulus but the potent wine of triumphant joy He did
not choose any back street today but rode slowly with uplifted head and free
glances along the principal street all the way to the bridge Why did he not
happen to meet Wakem The want of that coincidence vexed him and set his mind
at work in an irritating way Perhaps Wakem was gone out of town today on
purpose to avoid seeing or hearing anything of an honourable action which might
well cause him some unpleasant twinges If Wakem were to meet him then Mr
Tulliver would look straight at him and the rascal would perhaps be forsaken a
little by his cool domineering impudence He would know byandby that an honest
man was not going to serve him any longer and lend his honesty to fill a pocket
already overfull of dishonest gains Perhaps the luck was beginning to turn
perhaps the devil didnt always hold the best cards in this world
Simmering in this way Mr Tulliver approached the yardgates of Dorlcote
Mill near enough to see a wellknown figure coming out of them on a fine black
horse They met about fifty yards from the gates between the great chestnuts
and elms and the high bank
»Tulliver« said Wakem abruptly in a haughtier tone than usual »what a
fools trick you did spreading those hard lumps on that Far Close I told you
how it would be but you men never learn to farm with any method«
»Oh« said Tulliver suddenly boiling up »Get somebody else to farm for
you then as ll ask you to teach him«
»You have been drinking I suppose« said Wakem really believing that this
was the meaning of Tullivers flushed face and sparkling eyes
»No Ive not been drinking« said Tulliver »I want no drinking to help me
make up my mind as Ill serve no longer under a scoundrel«
»Very well you may leave my premises tomorrow then hold your insolent
tongue and let me pass« Tulliver was backing his horse across the road to hem
Wakem in
»No I shant let you pass« said Tulliver getting fiercer »I shall tell
you what I think of you first Youre too big a raskill to get hanged youre
«
»Let me pass you ignorant brute or Ill ride over you«
Mr Tulliver spurring his horse and raising his whip made a rush forward
and Wakems horse rearing and staggering backward threw his rider from the
saddle and sent him sideways on the ground Wakem had had the presence of mind
to loose the bridle at once and as the horse only staggered a few paces and
then stood still he might have risen and remounted without more inconvenience
than a bruise and a shake But before he could rise Tulliver was off his horse
too The sight of the longhated predominant man down and in his power threw
him into a frenzy of triumphant vengeance which seemed to give him
preternatural agility and strength He rushed on Wakem who was in the act of
trying to recover his feet grasped him by the left arm so as to press Wakems
whole weight on the right arm which rested on the ground and flogged him
fiercely across the back with his ridingwhip Wakem shouted for help but no
help came until a womans scream was heard and the cry of »Father father«
Suddenly Wakem felt something had arrested Mr Tullivers arm for the
flogging ceased and the grasp on his own arm was relaxed
»Get away with you go« said Tulliver angrily But it was not to Wakem
that he spoke Slowly the lawyer rose and as he turned his head saw that
Tullivers arms were being held by a girl rather by the fear of hurting the
girl that clung to him with all her young might
»O Luke mother come and help Mr Wakem« Maggie cried as she heard the
longedfor footsteps
»Help me on to that low horse« said Wakem to Luke »then I shall perhaps
manage though confound it I think this arm is sprained«
With some difficulty Wakem was heaved on to Tullivers horse Then he
turned toward the miller and said with white rage »Youll suffer for this
sir Your daughter is a witness that youve assaulted me«
»I dont care« said Mr Tulliver in a thick fierce voice »go and show
your back and tell em I thrashed you Tell em Ive made things a bit more
even i the world«
»Ride my horse home with me« said Wakem to Luke »By the Tofton Ferry not
through the town«
»Father come in« said Maggie imploringly Then seeing that Wakem had
ridden off and that no further violence was possible she slackened her hold
and burst into hysteric sobs while poor Mrs Tulliver stood by in silence
quivering with fear But Maggie became conscious that as she was slackening her
hold her father was beginning to grasp her and lean on her The surprise
checked her sobs
»I feel ill faintish« he said »Help me in Bessy Im giddy Ive a
pain i the head«
He walked in slowly propped by his wife and daughter and tottered into his
armchair The almost purple flush had given way to paleness and his hand was
cold
»Hadnt we better send for the doctor« said Mrs Tulliver
He seemed to be too faint and suffering to hear her but presently when she
said to Maggie »Go and see for somebody to fetch the doctor« he looked up at
her with full comprehension and said »Doctor no no doctor Its my head
thats all Help me to bed«
Sad ending to the day that had risen on them all like a beginning of better
times But mingled seed must bear a mingled crop
In half an hour after his father had lain down Tom came home Bob Jakin was
with him come to congratulate »the old master« not without some excusable
pride that he had had his share in bringing about Mr Toms goodluck and Tom
had thought his father would like nothing better as a finish to the day than a
talk with Bob But now Tom could only spend the evening in gloomy expectation of
the unpleasant consequences that must follow on this mad outbreak of his
fathers longsmothered hate After the painful news had been told he sat in
silence he had not spirit or inclination to tell his mother and sister anything
about the dinner they hardly cared to ask it Apparently the mingled thread in
the web of their life was so curiously twisted together that there could be no
joy without a sorrow coming close upon it Tom was dejected by the thought that
his exemplary effort must always be baffled by the wrongdoing of others Maggie
was living through over and over again the agony of the moment in which she
had rushed to throw herself on her fathers arm with a vague shuddering
foreboding of wretched scenes to come Not one of the three felt any particular
alarm about Mr Tullivers health the symptoms did not recall his former
dangerous attack and it seemed only a necessary consequence that his violent
passion and effort of strength after many hours of unusual excitement should
have made him feel ill Rest would probably cure him
Tom tired out by his active day fell asleep soon and slept soundly it
seemed to him as if he had only just come to bed when he waked to see his
mother standing by him in the grey light of early morning
»My boy you must get up this minute Ive sent for the doctor and your
father wants you and Maggie to come to him«
»Is he worse mother«
»Hes been very ill all night with his head but he doesnt say its worse
he only said sudden Bessy fetch the boy and girl Tell em to make haste«
Maggie and Tom threw on their clothes hastily in the chill grey light and
reached their fathers room almost at the same moment He was watching for them
with an expression of pain on his brow but with sharpened anxious consciousness
in his eyes Mrs Tulliver stood at the foot of the bed frightened and
trembling looking worn and aged from disturbed rest Maggie was at the bedside
first but her fathers glance was towards Tom who came and stood next to her
»Tom my lad its come upon me as I shant get up again This worlds
been too many for me my lad but youve done what you could to make things a
bit even Shake hands wi me again my lad before I go away from you«
The father and son clasped hands and looked at each other an instant Then
Tom said trying to speak firmly
»Have you any wish father that I can fulfil when «
»Ay my lad youll try and get the old mill back«
»Yes father«
»And theres your mother youll try and make her amends all you can for
my bad luck and theres the little wench «
The father turned his eyes on Maggie with a still more eager look while
she with a bursting heart sank on her knees to be closer to the dear
timeworn face which had been present with her through long years as the sign
of her deepest love and hardest trial
»You must take care of her Tom dont you fret my wench therell
come somebody asll love you and take your part and you must be good to
her my lad I was good to my sister Kiss me Maggie Come Bessy
Youll manage to pay for a brick grave Tom so as your mother and me can lie
together«
He looked away from them all when he had said this and lay silent for some
minutes while they stood watching him not daring to move The morning light
was growing clearer for them and they could see the heaviness gathering in his
face and the dulness in his eyes But at last he looked towards Tom and said
»I had my turn I beat him That was nothing but fair I never wanted
anything but what was fair«
»But father dear father« said Maggie an unspeakable anxiety
predominating over her grief »you forgive him you forgive every one now«
He did not move his eyes to look at her but he said
»No my wench I dont forgive him Whats forgiving to do I cant
love a raskill «
His voice had become thicker but he wanted to say more and moved his lips
again and again struggling in vain to speak At length the words forced their
way
»Does God forgive raskills but if He does He wont be hard wi me«
His hands moved uneasily as if he wanted them to remove some obstruction
that weighed upon him Two or three times there fell from him some broken words
»This worlds too many honest man puzzling «
Soon they merged into mere mutterings the eyes had ceased to discern and
then came the final silence
But not of death For an hour or more the chest heaved the loud hard
breathing continued getting gradually slower as the cold dews gathered on the
brow
At last there was total stillness and poor Tullivers dimlylighted soul
had for ever ceased to be vexed with the painful riddle of this world
Help was come now Luke and his wife were there and Mr Turnbull had
arrived too late for everything but to say »This is death«
Tom and Maggie went downstairs together into the room where their fathers
place was empty Their eyes turned to the same spot and Maggie spoke
»Tom forgive me let us always love each other« and they clung and wept
together
Book Sixth
The Great Temptation
Chapter I
A Duet in Paradise
The wellfurnished drawingroom with the open grand piano and the pleasant
outlook down a sloping garden to a boathouse by the side of the Floss is Mr
Deanes The neat little lady in mourning whose lightbrown ringlets are
falling over the coloured embroidery with which her fingers are busy is of
course Lucy Deane and the fine young man who is leaning down from his chair to
snap the scissors in the extremely abbreviated face of the »King Charles« lying
on the young ladys feet is no other than Mr Stephen Guest whose diamond
ring attar of roses and air of nonchalant leisure at twelve oclock in the
day are the graceful and odoriferous result of the largest oilmill and the
most extensive wharf in St Oggs There is an apparent triviality in the action
with the scissors but your discernment perceives at once that there is a design
in it which makes it eminently worthy of a largeheaded longlimbed young man
for you see that Lucy wants the scissors and is compelled reluctant as she may
be to shake her ringlets back raise her soft hazel eyes smile playfully down
on the face that is so very nearly on a level with her knee and holding out
her little shellpink palm to say
»My scissors please if you can renounce the great pleasure of persecuting
my poor Minny«
The foolish scissors have slipped too far over the knuckles it seems and
Hercules holds out his entrapped fingers hopelessly
»Confound the scissors The oval lies the wrong way Please draw them off
for me«
»Draw them off with your other hand« says Miss Lucy roguishly
»O but thats my left hand Im not lefthanded« Lucy laughs and the
scissors are drawn off with gentle touches from tiny tips which naturally
dispose Mr Stephen for a repetition da capo Accordingly he watches for the
release of the scissors that he may get them into his possession again
»No no« said Lucy sticking them in her band »you shall not have my
scissors again you have strained them already Now dont set Minny growling
again Sit up and behave properly and then I will tell you some news«
»What is that« said Stephen throwing himself back and hanging his right
arm over the corner of his chair He might have been sitting for his portrait
which would have represented a rather striking young man of fiveandtwenty
with a square forehead short darkbrown hair standing erect with a slight wave
at the end like a thick crop of corn and a halfardent halfsarcastic glance
from under his wellmarked horizontal eyebrows »Is it very important news«
»Yes very Guess«
»You are going to change Minnys diet and give him three ratafias soaked in
a dessertspoonful of cream daily«
»Quite wrong«
»Well then Dr Kenn has been preaching against buckram and you ladies have
all been sending him a roundrobin saying This is a hard doctrine who can
bear it«
»For shame« said Lucy adjusting her little mouth gravely »It is rather
dull of you not to guess my news because it is about something I mentioned to
you not very long ago«
»But you have mentioned many things to me not long ago Does your feminine
tyranny require that when you say the thing you mean is one of several things I
should know it immediately by that mark«
»Yes I know you think I am silly«
»I think you are perfectly charming«
»And my silliness is part of my charm«
»I didnt say that«
»But I know you like women to be rather insipid Philip Wakem betrayed you
he said so one day when you were not here«
»O I know Phil is fierce on that point he makes it quite a personal
matter I think he must be lovesick for some unknown lady some exalted
Beatrice whom he met abroad«
»By the by« said Lucy pausing in her work »it has just occurred to me
that I have never found out whether my cousin Maggie will object to see Philip
as her brother does Tom will not enter a room where Philip is if he knows it
perhaps Maggie may be the same and then we shant be able to sing our glees
shall we«
»What is your cousin coming to stay with you« said Stephen with a look of
slight annoyance
»Yes that was my news which you have forgotten Shes going to leave her
situation where she has been nearly two years poor thing ever since her
fathers death and she will stay with me a month or two many months I hope«
»And am I bound to be pleased at that news«
»O no not at all« said Lucy with a little air of pique »I am pleased
but that of course is no reason why you should be pleased There is no girl in
the world I love so well as my cousin Maggie«
»And you will be inseparable I suppose when she comes There will be no
possibility of a têteàtête with you any more unless you can find an admirer
for her who will pair off with her occasionally What is the ground of dislike
to Philip He might have been a resource«
»It is a family quarrel with Philips father There were very painful
circumstances I believe I never quite understood them or knew them all My
uncle Tulliver was unfortunate and lost all his property and I think he
considered Mr Wakem was somehow the cause of it Mr Wakem bought Dorlcote
Mill my uncles old place where he always lived You must remember my uncle
Tulliver dont you«
»No« said Stephen with rather supercilious indifference »Ive always
known the name and I daresay I knew the man by sight apart from his name I
know half the names and faces in the neighbourhood in that detached disjointed
way«
»He was a very hottempered man I remember when I was a little girl and
used to go to see my cousins he often frightened me by talking as if he were
angry Papa told me there was a dreadful quarrel the very day before my uncles
death between him and Mr Wakem but it was hushed up That was when you were
in London Papa says my uncle was quite mistaken in many ways his mind had
become embittered But Tom and Maggie must naturally feel it very painful to be
reminded of these things They have had so much so very much trouble Maggie
was at school with me six years ago when she was fetched away because of her
fathers misfortunes and she has hardly had any pleasure since I think She
has been in a dreary situation in a school since uncles death because she is
determined to be independent and not live with aunt Pullet and I could hardly
wish her to come to me then because dear mamma was ill and everything was so
sad That is why I want her to come to me now and have a long long holiday«
»Very sweet and angelic of you« said Stephen looking at her with an
admiring smile »and all the more so if she has the conversational qualities of
her mother«
»Poor aunty You are cruel to ridicule her She is very valuable to me I
know She manages the house beautifully much better than any stranger would
and she was a great comfort to me in mammas illness«
»Yes but in point of companionship one would prefer that she should be
represented by her brandycherries and creamcakes I think with a shudder that
her daughter will always be present in person and have no agreeable proxies of
that kind a fat blonde girl with round blue eyes who will stare at us
silently«
»O yes« exclaimed Lucy laughing wickedly and clapping her hands »that is
just my cousin Maggie You must have seen her«
»No indeed Im only guessing what Mrs Tullivers daughter must be and
then if she is to banish Philip our only apology for a tenor that will be an
additional bore«
»But I hope that may not be I think I will ask you to call on Philip and
tell him Maggie is coming tomorrow He is quite aware of Toms feeling and
always keeps out of his way so he will understand if you tell him that I
asked you to warn him not to come until I write to ask him«
»I think you had better write a pretty note for me to take Phil is so
sensitive you know the least thing might frighten him off coming at all and
we had hard work to get him I can never induce him to come to the Park he
doesnt like my sisters I think It is only your faëry touch that can lay his
ruffled feathers«
Stephen mastered the little hand that was straying towards the table and
touched it lightly with his lips Little Lucy felt very proud and happy She and
Stephen were in that stage of courtship which makes the most exquisite moment of
youth the freshest blossomtime of passion when each is sure of the others
love but no formal declaration has been made and all its mutual divination
exalting the most trivial word the lightest gesture into thrills delicate and
delicious as wafted jasmine scent The explicitness of an engagement wears off
this finest edge of susceptibility it is jasmine gathered and presented in a
large bouquet
»But it is really odd that you should have hit so exactly on Maggies
appearance and manners« said the cunning Lucy moving to reach her desk
»because she might have been like her brother you know and Tom has not round
eyes and he is as far as possible from staring at people«
»O I suppose he is like the father he seems to be as proud as Lucifer Not
a brilliant companion though I should think«
»I like Tom He gave me my Minny when I lost Lolo and papa is very fond of
him he says Tom has excellent principles It was through him that his father
was able to pay all his debts before he died«
»Oh ah Ive heard about that I heard your father and mine talking about
it a little while ago after dinner in one of their interminable discussions
about business They think of doing something for young Tulliver he saved them
from a considerable loss by riding home in some marvellous way like Turpin to
bring them news about the stoppage of a bank or something of that sort But I
was rather drowsy at the time«
Stephen rose from his seat and sauntered to the piano humming in falsetto
»Graceful Consort« as he turned over the volume of »The Creation« which stood
open on the desk
»Come and sing this« he said when he saw Lucy rising
»What Graceful Consort I dont think it suits your voice«
»Never mind it exactly suits my feeling which Philip will have it is the
grand element of good singing I notice men with indifferent voices are usually
of that opinion«
»Philip burst into one of his invectives against The Creation the other
day« said Lucy seating herself at the piano »He says it has a sort of sugared
complacency and flattering makebelieve in it as if it were written for the
birthday fête of a German GrandDuke«
»O pooh He is the fallen Adam with a soured temper We are Adam and Eve
unfallen in paradise Now then the recitative for the sake of the moral
You will sing the whole duty of woman And from obedience grows my pride and
happiness«
»O no I shall not respect an Adam who drags the tempo as you will« said
Lucy beginning to play the duet
Surely the only courtship unshaken by doubts and fears must be that in
which the lovers can sing together The sense of mutual fitness that springs
from the two deep notes fulfilling expectation just at the right moment between
the notes of the silvery soprano from the perfect accord of descending thirds
and fifths from the preconcerted loving chase of a fugue is likely enough to
supersede any immediate demand for less impassioned forms of agreement The
contralto will not care to catechise the bass the tenor will foresee no
embarrassing dearth of remark in evenings spent with the lovely soprano In the
provinces too where music was so scarce in that remote time how could the
musical people avoid falling in love with each other Even political principle
must have been in danger of relaxation under such circumstances and the violin
faithful to rotten boroughs must have been tempted to fraternise in a
demoralising way with a reforming violoncello In this case the linnetthroated
soprano and the fulltoned bass singing
»With thee delight is ever new
With thee is life incessant bliss«
believed what they sang all the more because they sang it
»Now for Raphaels great song« said Lucy when they had finished the duet
»You do the heavy beasts to perfection«
»That sounds complimentary« said Stephen looking at his watch »By Jove
its nearly halfpast one Well I can just sing this«
Stephen delivered with admirable ease the deep notes representing the tread
of the heavy beasts but when a singer has an audience of two there is room for
divided sentiments Minnys mistress was charmed but Minny who had intrenched
himself trembling in his basket as soon as the music began found this thunder
so little to his taste that he leaped out and scampered under the remotest
chiffonière as the most eligible place in which a small dog could await the
crack of doom
»Adieu graceful consort« said Stephen buttoning his coat across when he
had done singing and smiling down from his tall height with the air of rather
a patronising lover at the little lady on the musicstool »My bliss is not
incessant for I must gallop home I promised to be there at lunch«
»You will not be able to call on Philip then It is of no consequence I
have said everything in my note«
»You will be engaged with your cousin tomorrow I suppose«
»Yes we are going to have a little familyparty My cousin Tom will dine
with us and poor aunty will have her two children together for the first time
It will be very pretty I think a great deal about it«
»But I may come the next day«
»O yes Come and be introduced to my cousin Maggie though you can hardly
be said not to have seen her you have described her so well«
»Goodbye then« And there was that slight pressure of the hands and
momentary meeting of the eyes which will often leave a little lady with a
slight flush and smile on her face that do not subside immediately when the door
is closed and with an inclination to walk up and down the room rather than to
seat herself quietly at her embroidery or other rational and improving
occupation At least this was the effect on Lucy and you will not I hope
consider it an indication of vanity predominating over more tender impulses
that she just glanced in the chimneyglass as her walk brought her near it The
desire to know that one has not looked an absolute fright during a few hours of
conversation may be construed as lying within the bonds of a laudable
benevolent consideration for others And Lucy had so much of this benevolence in
her nature that I am inclined to think her small egoisms were impregnated with
it just as there are people not altogether unknown to you whose small
benevolences have a predominant and somewhat rank odour of egoism Even now
that she is walking up and down with a little triumphant flutter of her girlish
heart at the sense that she is loved by the person of chief consequence in her
small world you may see in her hazel eyes an everpresent sunny benignity in
which the momentary harmless flashes of personal vanity are quite lost and if
she is happy in thinking of her lover it is because the thought of him mingles
readily with all the gentle affections and goodnatured offices with which she
fills her peaceful days Even now her mind with that instantaneous alternation
which makes two currents of feeling or imagination seem simultaneous is
glancing continually from Stephen to the preparations she has only half finished
in Maggies room Cousin Maggie should be treated as well as the grandest
ladyvisitor nay better for she should have Lucys best prints and drawings
in her bedroom and the very finest bouquet of spring flowers on her table
Maggie would enjoy all that she was so fond of pretty things And there was
poor aunt Tulliver that no one made any account of she was to be surprised
with the present of a cap of superlative quality and to have her health drunk
in a gratifying manner for which Lucy was going to lay a plot with her father
this evening Clearly she had not time to indulge in long reveries about her
own happy loveaffairs With this thought she walked towards the door but
paused there
»Whats the matter then Minny« she said stooping in answer to some
whimpering of that small quadruped and lifting his glossy head against her pink
cheek »Did you think I was going without you Come then let us go and see
Sinbad«
Sinbad was Lucys chestnut horse that she always fed with her own hand when
he was turned out in the paddock She was fond of feeding dependent creatures
and knew the private tastes of all the animals about the house delighting in
the little rippling sounds of her canaries when their beaks were busy with fresh
seed and in the small nibbling pleasures of certain animals which lest she
should appear too trivial I will here call »the more familiar rodents«
Was not Stephen Guest right in his decided opinion that this slim maiden of
eighteen was quite the sort of wife a man would not be likely to repent of
marrying a woman who was loving and thoughtful for other women not giving
them Judaskisses with eyes askance on their welcome defects but with real care
and vision for their halfhidden pains and mortifications with long ruminating
enjoyment of little pleasures prepared for them Perhaps the emphasis of his
admiration did not fall precisely on this rarest quality in her perhaps he
approved his own choice of her chiefly because she did not strike him as a
remarkable rarity A man likes his wife to be pretty well Lucy was pretty but
not to a maddening extent A man likes his wife to be accomplished gentle
affectionate and not stupid and Lucy had all these qualifications Stephen was
not surprised to find himself in love with her and was conscious of excellent
judgment in preferring her to Miss Leyburn the daughter of the county member
although Lucy was only the daughter of his fathers subordinate partner
besides he had had to defy and overcome a slight unwillingness and
disappointment in his father and sisters a circumstance which gives a young
man an agreeable consciousness of his own dignity Stephen was aware that he had
sense and independence enough to choose the wife who was likely to make him
happy unbiassed by any indirect considerations He meant to choose Lucy she
was a little darling and exactly the sort of woman he had always most admired
Chapter II
First Impressions
»He is very clever Maggie« said Lucy She was kneeling on a footstool at
Maggies feet after placing that dark lady in the large crimsonvelvet chair
»I feel sure you will like him I hope you will«
»I shall be very difficult to please« said Maggie smiling and holding up
one of Lucys long curls that the sunlight might shine through it »A gentleman
who thinks he is good enough for Lucy must expect to be sharply criticised«
»Indeed hes a great deal too good for me And sometimes when he is away
I almost think it cant really be that he loves me But I can never doubt it
when he is with me though I couldnt bear any one but you to know that I feel
in that way Maggie«
»Oh then if I disapprove of him you can give him up since you are not
engaged« said Maggie with playful gravity
»I would rather not be engaged When people are engaged they begin to think
of being married soon« said Lucy too thoroughly preoccupied to notice Maggies
joke »and I should like everything to go on for a long while just as it is
Sometimes I am quite frightened lest Stephen should say that he has spoken to
papa and from something that fell from papa the other day I feel sure he and
Mr Guest are expecting that And Stephens sisters are very civil to me now At
first I think they didnt like his paying me attention and that was natural
It does seem out of keeping that I should ever live in a great place like the
Park House such a little insignificant thing as I am«
»But people are not expected to be large in proportion to the houses they
live in like snails« said Maggie laughing »Pray are Mr Guests sisters
giantesses«
»O no and not handsome that is not very« said Lucy halfpenitent at
this uncharitable remark
»But he is at least he is generally considered very handsome«
»Though you are unable to share that opinion«
»O I dont know« said Lucy blushing pink over brow and neck »It is a bad
plan to raise expectation you will perhaps be disappointed But I have prepared
a charming surprise for him I shall have a glorious laugh against him I shall
not tell you what it is though«
Lucy rose from her knees and went to a little distance holding her pretty
head on one side as if she had been arranging Maggie for a portrait and wished
to judge of the general effect
»Stand up a moment Maggie«
»What is your pleasure now« said Maggie smiling languidly as she rose from
her chair and looked down on her slight aërial cousin whose figure was quite
subordinate to her faultless drapery of silk and crape
Lucy kept her contemplative attitude a moment or two in silence and then
said
»I cant think what witchery it is in you Maggie that makes you look best
in shabby clothes though you really must have a new dress now But do you know
last night I was trying to fancy you in a handsome fashionable dress and do
what I would that old limp merino would come back as the only right thing for
you I wonder if Marie Antoinette looked all the grander when her gown was
darned at the elbows Now if I were to put anything shabby on I should be
quite unnoticeable I should be a mere rag«
»O quite« said Maggie with mock gravity »You would be liable to be swept
out of the room with the cobwebs and carpetdust and to find yourself under the
grate like Cinderella Maynt I sit down now«
»Yes now you may« said Lucy laughing Then with an air of serious
reflection unfastening her large jet brooch »But you must change brooches
Maggie that little butterfly looks silly on you«
»But wont that mar the charming effect of my consistent shabbiness« said
Maggie seating herself submissively while Lucy knelt again and unfastened the
contemptible butterfly »I wish my mother were of your opinion for she was
fretting last night because this is my best frock Ive been saving my money to
pay for some lessons I shall never get a better situation without more
accomplishments«
Maggie gave a little sigh
»Now dont put on that sad look again« said Lucy pinning the large brooch
below Maggies fine throat »Youre forgetting that youve left that dreary
schoolroom behind you and have no little girls clothes to mend«
»Yes« said Maggie »It is with me as I used to think it would be with the
poor uneasy white bear I saw at the show I thought he must have got so stupid
with the habit of turning backwards and forwards in that narrow space that he
would keep doing it if they set him free One gets a bad habit of being
unhappy«
»But I shall put you under a discipline of pleasure that will make you lose
that bad habit« said Lucy sticking the black butterfly absently in her own
collar while her eyes met Maggies affectionately
»You dear tiny thing« said Maggie in one of her bursts of loving
admiration »you enjoy other peoples happiness so much I believe you would do
without any of your own I wish I were like you«
»Ive never been tried in that way« said Lucy »Ive always been so happy
I dont know whether I could bear much trouble I never had any but poor mammas
death You have been tried Maggie and Im sure you feel for other people quite
as much as I do«
»No Lucy« said Maggie shaking her head slowly »I dont enjoy their
happiness as you do else I should be more contented I do feel for them when
they are in trouble I dont think I could ever bear to make any one unhappy
and yet I often hate myself because I get angry sometimes at the sight of happy
people I think I get worse as I get older more selfish That seems very
dreadful«
»Now Maggie« said Lucy in a tone of remonstrance »I dont believe a word
of that It is all a gloomy fancy just because you are depressed by a dull
wearisome life«
»Well perhaps it is« said Maggie resolutely clearing away the clouds from
her face with a bright smile and throwing herself backward in her chair
»Perhaps it comes from the school diet watery ricepudding spiced with
Pinnock Let us hope it will give way before my mothers custards and this
charming Geoffrey Crayon«
Maggie took up the »Sketch Book« which lay by her on the table
»Do I look fit to be seen with this little brooch« said Lucy going to
survey the effect in the chimneyglass
»O no Mr Guest will be obliged to go out of the room again if he sees you
in it Pray make haste and put another on«
Lucy hurried out of the room but Maggie did not take the opportunity of
opening her book she let it fall on her knees while her eyes wandered to the
window where she could see the sunshine falling on the rich clumps of spring
flowers and on the long hedge of laurels and beyond the silvery breadth of
the dear old Floss that at this distance seemed to be sleeping in a morning
holiday The sweet fresh gardenscent came through the open window and the
birds were busy flitting and alighting gurgling and singing Yet Maggies eyes
began to fill with tears The sight of the old scenes had made the rush of
memories so painful that even yesterday she had only been able to rejoice in
her mothers restored comfort and Toms brotherly friendliness as we rejoice in
good news of friends at a distance rather than in the presence of a happiness
which we share Memory and imagination urged upon her a sense of privation too
keen to let her taste what was offered in the transient present her future she
thought was likely to be worse than her past for after her years of contented
renunciation she had slipped back into desire and longing she found joyless
days a of distasteful occupation harder and harder she found the image of the
intense and varied life she yearned for and despaired of becoming more and
more importunate The sound of the opening door roused her and hastily wiping
away her tears she began to turn over the leaves of her book
»There is one pleasure I know Maggie that your deepest dismalness will
never resist« said Lucy beginning to speak as soon as she entered the room
»That is music and I mean you to have quite a riotous feast of it I mean you
to get up your playing again which used to be so much better than mine when we
were at Laceham«
»You would have laughed to see me playing the little girls tunes over and
over to them when I took them to practice« said Maggie »just for the sake of
fingering the dear keys again But I dont know whether I could play anything
more difficult now than Begone dull care«
»I know what a wild state of joy you used to be in when the gleemen came
round« said Lucy taking up her embroidery »and we might have all those old
glees that you used to love so if I were certain that you dont feel exactly as
Tom does about some things«
»I should have thought there was nothing you might be more certain of« said
Maggie smiling
»I ought rather to have said one particular thing Because if you feel just
as he does about that we shall want our third voice St Oggs is so miserably
provided with musical gentlemen There are really only Stephen and Philip Wakem
who have any knowledge of music so as to be able to sing a part«
Lucy had looked up from her work as she uttered the last sentence and saw
that there was a change in Maggies face
»Does it hurt you to hear the name mentioned Maggie If it does I will not
speak of him again I know Tom will not see him if he can avoid it«
»I dont feel at all as Tom does on that subject« said Maggie rising and
going to the window as if she wanted to see more of the landscape »Ive always
liked Philip Wakem ever since I was a little girl and saw him at Lorton He was
so good when Tom hurt his foot«
»O Im so glad« said Lucy »Then you wont mind his coming sometimes and
we can have much more music than we could without him Im very fond of poor
Philip only I wish he were not so morbid about his deformity I suppose it is
his deformity that makes him so sad and sometimes bitter It is certainly very
piteous to see his poor little crooked body and pale face among great strong
people«
»But Lucy« said Maggie trying to arrest the prattling stream
»Ah there is the doorbell That must be Stephen« Lucy went on not
noticing Maggies faint effort to speak »One of the things I most admire in
Stephen is that he makes a greater friend of Philip than any one«
It was too late for Maggie to speak now the drawingroom door was opening
and Minny was already growling in a small way at the entrance of a tall
gentleman who went up to Lucy and took her hand with a halfpolite halftender
glance and tone of inquiry which seemed to indicate that he was unconscious of
any other presence
»Let me introduce you to my cousin Miss Tulliver« said Lucy turning with
wicked enjoyment towards Maggie who now approached from the farther window
»This is Mr Stephen Guest«
For one instant Stephen could not conceal his astonishment at the sight of
this tall darkeyed nymph with her jetblack coronet of hair the next Maggie
felt herself for the first time in her life receiving the tribute of a very
deep blush and a very deep bow from a person towards whom she herself was
conscious of timidity This new experience was very agreeable to her so
agreeable that it almost effaced her previous emotion about Philip There was a
new brightness in her eyes and a very becoming flush on her check as she
seated herself
»I hope you perceive what a striking likeness you drew the day before
yesterday« said Lucy with a pretty laugh of triumph She enjoyed her lovers
confusion the advantage was usually on his side
»This designing cousin of yours quite deceived me Miss Tulliver« said
Stephen seating himself by Lucy and stooping to play with Minny only looking
at Maggie furtively »She said you had light hair and blue eyes«
»Nay it was you who said so« remonstrated Lucy »I only refrained from
destroying your confidence in your own secondsight«
»I wish I could always err in the same way« said Stephen »and find reality
so much more beautiful than my preconceptions«
»Now you have proved yourself equal to the occasion« said Maggie »and said
what it was incumbent on you to say under the circumstances«
She flashed a slightly defiant look at him it was clear to her that he had
been drawing a satirical portrait of her beforehand Lucy had said he was
inclined to be satirical and Maggie had mentally supplied the addition »and
rather conceited«
»An alarming amount of devil there« was Stephens first thought The
second when she had bent over her work was »I wish she would look at me
again« The next was to answer
»I suppose all phrases of mere compliment have their turn to be true A man
is occasionally grateful when he says thank you Its rather hard upon him that
he must use the same words with which all the world declines a disagreeable
invitation dont you think so Miss Tulliver«
»No« said Maggie looking at him with her direct glance »if we use common
words on a great occasion they are the more striking because they are felt at
once to have a particular meaning like old banners or everyday clothes hung
up in a sacred place«
»Then my compliment ought to be eloquent« said Stephen really not quite
knowing what he said while Maggie looked at him »seeing that the words were so
far beneath the occasion«
»No compliment can be eloquent except as an expression of indifference«
said Maggie flushing a little
Lucy was rather alarmed she thought Stephen and Maggie were not going to
like each other She had always feared lest Maggie should appear too odd and
clever to please that critical gentleman »Why dear Maggie« she interposed
»you have always pretended that you are too fond of being admired and now I
think you are angry because some one ventures to admire you«
»Not at all« said Maggie »I like too well to feel that I am admired but
compliments never make me feel that«
»I will never pay you a compliment again Miss Tulliver« said Stephen
»Thank you that will be a proof of respect«
Poor Maggie She was so unused to society that she could take nothing as a
matter of course and had never in her life spoken from the lips merely so that
she must necessarily appear absurd to more experienced ladies from the
excessive feeling she was apt to throw into very trivial incidents But she was
even conscious herself of a little absurdity in this instance It was true she
had a theoretic objection to compliments and had once said impatiently to
Philip that she didnt see why women were to be told with a simper that they
were beautiful any more than old men were to be told that they were venerable
still to be so irritated by a common practice in the case of a stranger like
Mr Stephen Guest and to care about his having spoken slightingly of her before
he had seen her was certainly unreasonable and as soon as she was silent she
began to be ashamed of herself It did not occur to her that her irritation was
due to the pleasanter emotion which preceded it just as when we are satisfied
with a sense of glowing warmth an innocent drop of cold water may fall upon us
as a sudden smart
Stephen was too wellbred not to seem unaware that the previous conversation
could have been felt embarrassing and at once began to talk of impersonal
matters asking Lucy if she knew when the bazaar was at length to take place so
that there might be some hope of seeing her rain the influence of her eyes on
objects more grateful than those worsted flowers that were growing under her
fingers
»Some day next month I believe« said Lucy »But your sisters are doing
more for it than I am they are to have the largest stall«
»Ah yes but they carry on their manufactures in their own sittingroom
where I dont intrude on them I see you are not addicted to the fashionable
vice of fancywork Miss Tulliver« said Stephen looking at Maggies plain
hemming
»No« said Maggie »I can do nothing more difficult or more elegant than
shirtmaking«
»And your plain sewing is so beautiful Maggie« said Lucy »that I think I
shall beg a few specimens of you to show as fancywork Your exquisite sewing is
quite a mystery to me you used to dislike that sort of work so much in old
days«
»It is a mystery easily explained dear« said Maggie looking up quietly
»Plain sewing was the only thing I could get money by so I was obliged to try
and do it well«
Lucy good and simple as she was could not help blushing a little she did
not quite like that Stephen should know that Maggie need not have mentioned
it Perhaps there was some pride in the confession the pride of poverty that
will not be ashamed of itself But if Maggie had been the queen of coquettes she
could hardly have invented a means of giving greater piquancy to her beauty in
Stephens eyes I am not sure that the quiet admission of plain sewing and
poverty would have done alone but assisted by the beauty they made Maggie more
unlike other women even than she had seemed at first
»But I can knit Lucy« Maggie went on »if that will be of any use for your
bazaar«
»O yes of infinite use I shall set you to work with scarlet wool
tomorrow But your sister is the most enviable person« continued Lucy turning
to Stephen »to have the talent of modelling She is doing a wonderful bust of
Dr Kenn entirely from memory«
»Why if she can remember to put the eyes very near together and the
corners of the mouth very far apart the likeness can hardly fail to be striking
in St Oggs«
»Now that is very wicked of you« said Lucy looking rather hurt »I didnt
think you would speak disrespectfully of Dr Kenn«
»I say anything disrespectful of Dr Kenn Heaven forbid But I am not bound
to respect a libellous bust of him I think Kenn one of the finest fellows in
the world I dont care much about the tall candlesticks he has put on the
communiontable and I shouldnt like to spoil my temper by getting up to early
prayers every morning But hes the only man I ever knew personally who seems to
me to have anything of the real apostle in him a man who has eight hundred
ayear and is contented with deal furniture and boiled beef because he gives
away twothirds of his income That was a very fine thing of him taking into
his house that poor lad Grattan who shot his mother by accident He sacrifices
more time than a less busy man could spare to save the poor fellow from getting
into a morbid state of mind about it He takes the lad out with him constantly
I see«
»That is beautiful« said Maggie who had let her work fall and was
listening with keen interest »I never knew any one who did such things«
»And one admires that sort of action in Kenn all the more« said Stephen
»because his manners in general are rather cold and severe Theres nothing
sugary and maudlin about him«
»O I think hes a perfect character« said Lucy with pretty enthusiasm
»No there I cant agree with you« said Stephen shaking his head with
sarcastic gravity
»Now what fault can you point out in him«
»Hes an Anglican«
»Well those are the right views I think« said Lucy gravely
»That settles the question in the abstract« said Stephen »but not from a
parliamentary point of view He has set the Dissenters and the Church people by
the ears and a rising senator like myself of whose services the country is
very much in need will find it inconvenient when he puts up for the honour of
representing St Oggs in Parliament«
»Do you really think of that« said Lucy her eyes brightening with a proud
pleasure that made her neglect the argumentative interests of Anglicanism
»Decidedly whenever old Mr Leyburns public spirit and gout induce him to
give way My fathers heart is set on it and gifts like mine you know« here
Stephen drew himself up and rubbed his large white hands over his hair with
playful selfadmiration »gifts like mine involve great responsibilities Dont
you think so Miss Tulliver«
»Yes« said Maggie smiling but not looking up »so much fluency and
selfpossession should not be wasted entirely on private occasions«
»Ah I see how much penetration you have« said Stephen »You have
discovered already that I am talkative and impudent Now superficial people
never discern that owing to my manner I suppose«
»She doesnt look at me when I talk of myself« he thought while his
listeners were laughing »I must try other subjects«
Did Lucy intend to be present at the meeting of the Book Club next week was
the next question Then followed the recommendation to choose Southeys »Life of
Cowper« unless she were inclined to be philosophical and startle the ladies of
St Oggs by voting for one of the Bridgewater Treatises Of course Lucy wished
to know what these alarmingly learned books were and as it is always pleasant
to improve the minds of ladies by talking to them at ease on subjects of which
they know nothing Stephen became quite brilliant in an account of Bucklands
Treatise which he had just been reading He was rewarded by seeing Maggie let
her work fall and gradually get so absorbed in his wonderful geological story
that she sat looking at him leaning forward with crossed arms and with an
entire absence of selfconsciousness as if he had been the snuffiest of old
professors and she a downylipped alumnus He was so fascinated by this clear
large gaze that at last he forgot to look away from it occasionally towards
Lucy but she sweet child was only rejoicing that Stephen was proving to
Maggie how clever he was and that they would certainly be good friends after
all
»I will bring you the book shall I Miss Tulliver« said Stephen when he
found the stream of his recollections running rather shallow »There are many
illustrations in it that you will like to see«
»O thank you« said Maggie blushing with returning selfconsciousness at
this direct address and taking up her work again
»No no« Lucy interposed »I must forbid your plunging Maggie in books I
shall never get her away from them and I want her to have delicious donothing
days filled with boating and chatting and riding and driving that is the
holiday she needs«
»Apropos« said Stephen looking at his watch »Shall we go out for a row on
the river now The tide will suit for us to go the Tofton way and we can walk
back«
That was a delightful proposition to Maggie for it was years since she had
been on the river When she was gone to put on her bonnet Lucy lingered to give
an order to the servant and took the opportunity of telling Stephen that Maggie
had no objection to seeing Philip so that it was a pity she had sent that note
the day before yesterday But she would write another tomorrow and invite him
»Ill call and beat him up tomorrow« said Stephen »and bring him with me
in the evening shall I My sisters will want to call on you when I tell them
your cousin is with you I must leave the field clear for them in the morning«
»O yes pray bring him« said Lucy »And you will like Maggie shant you«
she added in a beseeching tone »Isnt she a dear noblelooking creature«
»Too tall« said Stephen smiling down upon her »and a little too fiery
She is not my type of woman you know«
Gentlemen you are aware are apt to impart these imprudent confidences to
ladies concerning their unfavourable opinion of sister fair ones That is why so
many women have the advantage of knowing that they are secretly repulsive to men
who have selfdenyingly made ardent love to them And hardly anything could be
more distinctively characteristic of Lucy than that she both implicitly
believed what Stephen said and was determined that Maggie should not know it
But you who have a higher logic than the verbal to guide you have already
foreseen as the direct sequence to that unfavourable opinion of Stephens that
he walked down to the boathouse calculating by the aid of a vivid imagination
that Maggie must give him her hand at least twice in consequence of this
pleasant boating plan and that a gentleman who wishes ladies to look at him is
advantageously situated when he is rowing them in a boat What then Had he
fallen in love with this surprising daughter of Mrs Tulliver at first sight
Certainly not Such passions are never heard of in real life Besides he was in
love already and halfengaged to the dearest little creature in the world and
he was not a man to make a fool of himself in any way But when one is
fiveandtwenty one has not chalkstones at ones fingerends that the touch of
a handsome girl should be entirely indifferent It was perfectly natural and
safe to admire beauty and enjoy looking at it at least under such
circumstances as the present And there was really something very interesting
about this girl with her poverty and troubles it was gratifying to see the
friendship between the two cousins Generally Stephen admitted he was not fond
of women who had any peculiarity of character but here the peculiarity seemed
really of a superior kind and provided one is not obliged to marry such women
why they certainly make a variety in social intercourse
Maggie did not fulfil Stephens hope by looking at him during the first
quarter of an hour her eyes were too full of the old banks that she knew so
well She felt lonely cut off from Philip the only person who had ever seemed
to love her devotedly as she had always longed to be loved But presently the
rhythmic movement of the oars attracted her and she thought she should like to
learn how to row This roused her from her reverie and she asked if she might
take an oar It appeared that she required much teaching and she became
ambitious The exercise brought the warm blood into her cheeks and made her
inclined to take her lesson merrily
»I shall not be satisfied until I can manage both oars and row you and
Lucy« she said looking very bright as she stepped out of the boat Maggie we
know was apt to forget the thing she was doing and she had chosen an
inopportune moment for her remark her foot slipped but happily Mr Stephen
Guest held her hand and kept her up with a firm grasp
»You have not hurt yourself at all I hope« he said bending to look in her
face with anxiety It was very charming to be taken care of in that kind
graceful manner by some one taller and stronger than ones self Maggie had
never felt just in the same way before
When they reached home again they found uncle and aunt Pullet seated with
Mrs Tulliver in the drawingroom and Stephen hurried away asking leave to
come again in the evening
»And pray bring with you the volume of Purcell that you took away« said
Lucy »I want Maggie to hear your best songs«
Aunt Pullet under the certainty that Maggie would be invited to go out with
Lucy probably to Park House was much shocked at the shabbiness of her clothes
which when witnessed by the higher society of St Oggs would be a discredit to
the family that demanded a strong and prompt remedy and the consultation as to
what would be most suitable to this end from among the superfluities of Mrs
Pullets wardrobe was one that Lucy as well as Mrs Tulliver entered into with
some zeal Maggie must really have an eveningdress as soon as possible and she
was about the same height as aunt Pullet
»But shes so much broader across the shoulders than I am its very
illconvenient« said Mrs Pullet »else she might wear that beautiful black
brocade o mine without any alteration and her arms are beyond everything«
added Mrs Pullet sorrowfully as she lifted Maggies large round arm »Shed
never get my sleeves on«
»O never mind that aunt pray send us the dress« said Lucy »I dont mean
Maggie to have long sleeves and I have abundance of black lace for trimming
Her arms will look beautiful«
»Maggies arms are a pretty shape« said Mrs Tulliver »Theyre like mine
used to be only mine was never brown I wish shed had our family skin«
»Nonsense aunty« said Lucy patting her aunt Tullivers shoulder »you
dont understand those things A painter would think Maggies complexion
beautiful«
»May be my dear« said Mrs Tulliver submissively »You know better than I
do Only when I was young a brown skin wasnt thought well on among respectable
folks«
»No« said uncle Pullet who took intense interest in the ladies
conversation as he sucked his lozenges »Though there was a song about the
Nutbrown Maid too I think she was crazy crazy Kate but I cant justly
remember«
»O dear dear« said Maggie laughing but impatient »I think that will be
the end of my brown skin if it is always to be talked about so much«
Chapter III
Confidential Moments
When Maggie went up to her bedroom that night it appeared that she was not at
all inclined to undress She set down her candle on the first table that
presented itself and began to walk up and down her room which was a large one
with a firm regular and rather rapid step which showed that the exercise was
the instinctive vent of strong excitement Her eyes and cheeks had an almost
feverish brilliancy her head was thrown backward and her hands were clasped
with the palms outward and with that tension of the arms which is apt to
accompany mental absorption
Had anything remarkable happened
Nothing that you are not likely to consider in the highest degree
unimportant She had been hearing some fine music sung by a fine bass voice
but then it was sung in a provincial amateur fashion such as would have left a
critical ear much to desire And she was conscious of having been looked at a
great deal in rather a furtive manner from beneath a pair of wellmarked
horizontal eyebrows with a glance that seemed somehow to have caught the
vibratory influence of the voice Such things could have had no perceptible
effect on a thoroughly welleducated young lady with a perfectly balanced mind
who had had all the advantages of fortune training and refined society But if
Maggie had been that young lady you would probably have known nothing about
her her life would have had so few vicissitudes that it could hardly have been
written for the happiest women like the happiest nations have no history
In poor Maggies highlystrung hungry nature just come away from a
thirdrate schoolroom with all its jarring sounds and petty round of tasks
these apparently trivial causes had the effect of rousing and exalting her
imagination in a way that was mysterious to herself It was not that she thought
distinctly of Mr Stephen Guest or dwelt on the indications that he looked at
her with admiration it was rather that she felt the halfremote presence of a
world of love and beauty and delight made up of vague mingled images from all
the poetry and romance she had ever read or had ever woven in her dreamy
reveries Her mind glanced back once or twice to the time when she had courted
privation when she had thought all longing all impatience was subdued but
that condition seemed irrecoverably gone and she recoiled from the remembrance
of it No prayer no striving now would bring back that negative peace the
battle of her life it seemed was not to be decided in that short and easy way
by perfect renunciation at the very threshold of her youth The music was
vibrating in her still Purcells music with its wild passion and fancy and
she could not stay in the recollection of that bare lonely past She was in her
brighter aërial world again when a little tap came at the door of course it
was her cousin who entered in ample white dressinggown
»Why Maggie you naughty child havent you begun to undress« said Lucy
in astonishment »I promised not to come and talk to you because I thought you
must be tired But here you are looking as if you were ready to dress for a
ball Come come get on your dressinggown and unplait your hair«
»Well you are not very forward« retorted Maggie hastily reaching her own
pink cotton gown and looking at Lucys lightbrown hair brushed back in curly
disorder
»O I have not much to do I shall sit down and talk to you till I see you
are really on the way to bed«
While Maggie stood and unplaited her long black hair over her pink drapery
Lucy sat down near the toilettetable watching her with affectionate eyes and
head a little aside like a pretty spaniel If it appears to you at all
incredible that young ladies should be led on to talk confidentially in a
situation of this kind I will beg you to remember that human life furnishes
many exceptional cases
»You really have enjoyed the music tonight havent you Maggie«
»O yes that is what prevents me from feeling sleepy I think I should have
no other mortal wants if I could always have plenty of music It seems to
infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain Life seems to go on
without effort when I am filled with music At other times one is conscious of
carrying a weight«
»And Stephen has a splendid voice hasnt he«
»Well perhaps we are neither of us judges of that« said Maggie laughing
as she seated herself and tossed her long hair back »You are not impartial and
I think any barrelorgan splendid«
»But tell me what you think of him now Tell me exactly good and bad
too«
»O I think you should humiliate him a little A lover should not be so much
at ease and so selfconfident He ought to tremble more«
»Nonsense Maggie As if any one could tremble at me You think he is
conceited I see that But you dont dislike him do you«
»Dislike him No Am I in the habit of seeing such charming people that I
should be very difficult to please Besides how could I dislike any one that
promised to make you happy you dear thing« Maggie pinched Lucys dimpled chin
»We shall have more music tomorrow evening« said Lucy looking happy
already »for Stephen will bring Philip Wakem with him«
»O Lucy I cant see him« said Maggie turning pale »At least I could not
see him without Toms leave«
»Is Tom such a tyrant as that« said Lucy surprised »Ill take the
responsibility then tell him it was my fault«
»But dear« said Maggie falteringly »I promised Tom very solemnly
before my fathers death I promised him I would not speak to Philip without
his knowledge and consent And I have a great dread of opening the subject with
Tom of getting into a quarrel with him again«
»But I never heard of anything so strange and unreasonable What harm can
poor Philip have done May I speak to Tom about it«
»O no pray dont dear« said Maggie »Ill go to him myself tomorrow and
tell him that you wish Philip to come Ive thought before of asking him to
absolve me from my promise but Ive not had the courage to determine on it«
They were both silent for some moments and then Lucy said
»Maggie you have secrets from me and I have none from you«
Maggie looked meditatively away from Lucy Then she turned to her and said
»I should like to tell you about Philip
But Lucy you must not betray that you know it to any one least of all to
Philip himself or to Mr Stephen Guest«
The narrative lasted long for Maggie had never before known the relief of
such an outpouring she had never before told Lucy anything of her inmost life
and the sweet face bent towards her with sympathetic interest and the little
hand pressing hers encouraged her to speak on On two points only she was not
expansive She did not betray fully what still rankled in her mind as Toms
great offence the insults he had heaped on Philip Angry as the remembrance
still made her she could not bear that any one else should know it all both
for Toms sake and Philips And she could not bear to tell Lucy of the last
scene between her father and Wakem though it was this scene which she had ever
since felt to be a new barrier between herself and Philip She merely said she
saw now that Tom was on the whole right in regarding any prospect of love and
marriage between her and Philip as put out of the question by the relation of
the two families Of course Philips father would never consent
»There Lucy you have had my story« said Maggie smiling with the tears
in her eyes »You see I am like Sir Andrew Aguecheek I was adored once«
»Ah now I see how it is you know Shakespeare and everything and have
learned so much since you left school which always seemed to me witchcraft
before part of your general uncanniness« said Lucy
She mused a little with her eyes downward and then added looking at
Maggie »It is very beautiful that you should love Philip I never thought such
a happiness would befall him And in my opinion you ought not to give him up
There are obstacles now but they may be done away with in time«
Maggie shook her head
»Yes yes« persisted Lucy »I cant help being hopeful about it There is
something romantic in it out of the common way just what everything that
happens to you ought to be And Philip will adore you like a husband in a fairy
tale O I shall puzzle my small brain to contrive some plot that will bring
everybody into the right mind so that you may marry Philip when I marry
somebody else Wouldnt that be a pretty ending to all my poor poor Maggies
troubles«
Maggie tried to smile but shivered as if she felt a sudden chill
»Ah dear you are cold« said Lucy »You must go to bed and so must I I
dare not think what time it is«
They kissed each other and Lucy went away possessed of a confidence which
had a strong influence over her subsequent impressions Maggie had been
thoroughly sincere her nature had never found it easy to be otherwise But
confidences are sometimes blinding even when they are sincere
Chapter IV
Brother and Sister
Maggie was obliged to go to Toms lodgings in the middle of the day when he
would be coming in to dinner else she would not have found him at home He was
not lodging with entire strangers Our friend Bob Jakin had with Mumpss tacit
consent taken not only a wife about eight months ago but also one of those
queer old houses pierced with surprising passages by the waterside where as
he observed his wife and mother could keep themselves out of mischief by
letting out two »pleasureboats« in which he had invested some of his savings
and by taking in a lodger for the parlour and spare bedroom Under these
circumstances what could be better for the interests of all parties sanitary
considerations apart than that the lodger should be Mr Tom
It was Bobs wife who opened the door to Maggie She was a tiny woman with
the general physiognomy of a Dutch doll looking in comparison with Bobs
mother who filled up the passage in the rear very much like one of those human
figures which the artist finds conveniently standing near a colossal statue to
show the proportions The tiny woman curtsied and looked up at Maggie with some
awe as soon as she had opened the door but the words »Is my brother at home«
which Maggie uttered smilingly made her turn round with sudden excitement and
say
»Eh mother mother tell Bob its Miss Maggie Come in Miss for
goodness do« she went on opening a side door and endeavouring to flatten her
person against the wall to make the utmost space for the visitor
Sad recollections crowded on Maggie as she entered the small parlour which
was now all that poor Tom had to call by the name of »home« that name which
had once so many years ago meant for both of them the same sum of dear
familiar objects But everything was not strange to her in this new room the
first thing her eyes dwelt on was the large old Bible and the sight was not
likely to disperse the old memories She stood without speaking
»If you please to take the privilege o sitting down Miss« said Mrs
Jakin rubbing her apron over a perfectly clean chair and then lifting up the
corner of that garment and holding it to her face with an air of embarrassment
as she looked wonderingly at Maggie
»Bob is at home then« said Maggie recovering herself and smiling at the
bashful Dutch doll
»Yes Miss but I think he must be washing and dressing himself Ill go
and see« said Mrs Jakin disappearing
But she presently came back walking with new courage a little way behind her
husband who showed the brilliancy of his blue eyes and regular white teeth in
the doorway bowing respectfully
»How do you do Bob« said Maggie coming forward and putting out her hand
to him »I always meant to pay your wife a visit and I shall come another day
on purpose for that if she will let me But I was obliged to come today to
speak to my brother«
»Hell be in before long Miss Hes doin finely Mr Tom is hell be one
o the first men hereabouts youll see that«
»Well Bob Im sure hell be indebted to you whatever he becomes he said
so himself only the other night when he was talking of you«
»Eh Miss thats his way o takin it But I think the more ont when he
says a thing because his tongue doesnt overshoot him as mine does Lors Im
no better nor a tilted bottle I arnt I cant stop mysen when once I begin
But you look rarely Miss it does me good to see you What do you say now
Prissy« here Bob turned to his wife »Isnt it all come true as I said
Though there isnt many sorts o goods as I cant overpraise when I set my
tongue tot«
Mrs Bobs small nose seemed to be following the example of her eyes in
turning up reverentially towards Maggie but she was able now to smile and
curtsy and say »Id looked forrard like aenything to seein you Miss for my
husbands tongues been runnin on you like as if he was lightheaded iver
since first he come acourtin on me«
»Well well« said Bob looking rather silly »Go an see after the taters
else Mr Tom ull have to wait for em«
»I hope Mumps is friendly with Mrs Jakin Bob« said Maggie smiling »I
remember you used to say he wouldnt like your marrying«
»Eh Miss« said Bob grinning »he made up his mind tot when he seed what
a little un she was He pretends not to see her mostly or else to think as she
isnt fullgrowed But about Mr Tom Miss« said Bob speaking lower and
looking serious »hes as close as a iron biler he is but Im a cutish chap
an when Ive left off carrying my pack an am at a loose end Ive got more
brains nor I know what to do wi an Im forced to busy myself wi other
folkss insides An it worrets me as Mr Tom ull sit by himself so glumpish
aknittin his brow an alookin at the fire of a night He should be a bit
livelier now a fine young fellow like him My wife says when she goes in
sometimes an he takes no notice of her he sits lookin into the fire and
frownin as if he was watchin folks at work in it«
»He thinks so much about business« said Maggie
»Ay« said Bob speaking lower »but do you think its nothin else Miss
Hes close Mr Tom is but Im a cute chap I am an I thought towrt last
Christmas as Id found out a soft place in him It was about a little black
spaniel a rare bit o breed as he made a fuss to get But since then
summats come over him as hes set his teeth again things more nor iver for
all hes had such goodluck An I wanted to tell you Miss cause I thought
you might work it out of him a bit now youre come Hes a deal too lonely and
doesnt go into company enough«
»Im afraid I have very little power over him Bob« said Maggie a good
deal moved by Bobs suggestion It was a totally new idea to her mind that Tom
could have his love troubles Poor fellow and in love with Lucy too But it
was perhaps a mere fancy of Bobs too officious brain The present of the dog
meant nothing more than cousinship and gratitude But Bob had already said
»Heres Mr Tom« and the outer door was opening
»Theres no time to spare Tom« said Maggie as soon as Bob had left the
room »I must tell you at once what I came about else I shall be hindering you
from taking your dinner«
Tom stood with his back against the chimney and Maggie was seated opposite
the light He noticed that she was tremulous and he had a presentiment of the
subject she was going to speak about The presentiment made his voice colder and
harder as he said »What is it«
This tone roused a spirit of resistance in Maggie and she put her request
in quite a different form from the one she had predetermined on She rose from
her seat and looking straight at Tom said
»I want you to absolve me from my promise about Philip Wakem Or rather I
promised you not to see him without telling you I am come to tell you that I
wish to see him«
»Very well« said Tom still more coldly
But Maggie had hardly finished speaking in that chill defiant manner
before she repented and felt the dread of alienation from her brother
»Not for myself dear Tom Dont be angry I shouldnt have asked it only
that Philip you know is a friend of Lucys and she wishes him to come has
invited him to come this evening and I told her I couldnt see him without
telling you I shall only see him in the presence of other people There will
never be anything secret between us again«
Tom looked away from Maggie knitting his brow more strongly for a little
while Then he turned to her and said slowly and emphatically
»You know what is my feeling on that subject Maggie There is no need for
my repeating anything I said a year ago While my father was living I felt
bound to use the utmost power over you to prevent you from disgracing him as
well as yourself and all of us But now I must leave you to your own choice
You wish to be independent you told me so after my fathers death My opinion
is not changed If you think of Philip Wakem as a lover again you must give up
me«
»I dont wish it dear Tom at least as things are I see that it would
lead to misery But I shall soon go away to another situation and I should like
to be friends with him again while I am here Lucy wishes it«
The severity of Toms face relaxed a little
»I shouldnt mind your seeing him occasionally at my uncles I dont want
you to make a fuss on the subject But I have no confidence in you Maggie You
would be led away to do anything«
That was a cruel word Maggies lip began to tremble
»Why will you say that Tom It is very hard of you Have I not done and
borne everything as well as I could And I have kept my word to you when
when My life has not been a happy one any more than yours«
She was obliged to be childish the tears would come When Maggie was not
angry she was as dependent on kind or cold words as a daisy on the sunshine or
the cloud the need of being loved would always subdue her as in old days it
subdued her in the wormeaten attic The brothers goodness came uppermost at
this appeal but it could only show itself in Toms fashion He put his hand
gently on her arm and said in the tone of a kind pedagogue
»Now listen to me Maggie Ill tell you what I mean Youre always in
extremes you have no judgment and selfcommand and yet you think you know
best and will not submit to be guided You know I didnt wish you to take a
situation My aunt Pullet was willing to give you a good home and you might
have lived respectably amongst your relations until I could have provided a
home for you with my mother And that is what I should like to do I wished my
sister to be a lady and I would always have taken care of you as my father
desired until you were well married But your ideas and mine never accord and
you will not give way Yet you might have sense enough to see that a brother
who goes out into the world and mixes with men necessarily knows better what is
right and respectable for his sister than she can know herself You think I am
not kind but my kindness can only be directed by what I believe to be good for
you«
»Yes I know dear Tom« said Maggie still halfsobbing but trying to
control her tears »I know you would do a great deal for me I know how you
work and dont spare yourself I am grateful to you But indeed you cant
quite judge for me our natures are very different You dont know how
differently things affect me from what they do you«
»Yes I do know I know it too well I know how differently you must feel
about all that affects our family and your own dignity as a young woman before
you could think of receiving secret addresses from Philip Wakem If it was not
disgusting to me in every other way I should object to my sisters name being
associated for a moment with that of a young man whose father must hate the very
thought of us all and would spurn you With any one but you I should think it
quite certain that what you witnessed just before my fathers death would secure
you from ever thinking again of Philip Wakem as a lover But I dont feel
certain of it with you I never feel certain about anything with you At one
time you take pleasure in a sort of perverse selfdenial and at another you
have not resolution to resist a thing that you know to be wrong«
There was a terrible cutting truth in Toms words that hard rind of truth
which is discerned by unimaginative unsympathetic minds Maggie always writhed
under this judgment of Toms she rebelled and was humiliated in the same
moment it seemed as if he held a glass before her to show her her own folly and
weakness as if he were a prophetic voice predicting her future fallings and
yet all the while she judged him in return she said inwardly that he was
narrow and unjust that he was below feeling those mental needs which were often
the source of the wrongdoing or absurdity that made her life a planless riddle
to him
She did not answer directly her heart was too full and she sat down
leaning her arm on the table It was no use trying to make Tom feel that she was
near to him He always repelled her Her feeling under his words was complicated
by the allusion to the last scene between her father and Wakem and at length
that painful solemn memory surmounted the immediate grievance No She did not
think of such things with frivolous indifference and Tom must not accuse her of
that She looked up at him with a grave earnest gaze and said
»I cant make you think better of me Tom by anything I can say But I am
not so shut out from all your feelings as you believe me to be I see as well as
you do that from our position with regard to Philips father not on other
grounds it would be unreasonable it would be wrong for us to entertain the
idea of marriage and I have given up thinking of him as a lover I am
telling you the truth and you have no right to disbelieve me I have kept my
word to you and you have never detected me in a falsehood I should not only
not encourage I should carefully avoid any intercourse with Philip on any
other footing than that of quiet friendship You may think that I am unable to
keep my resolutions but at least you ought not to treat me with hard contempt
on the ground of faults that I have not committed yet«
»Well Maggie« said Tom softening under this appeal »I dont want to
overstrain matters I think all things considered it will be best for you to
see Philip Wakem if Lucy wishes him to come to the house I believe what you
say at least you believe it yourself I know I can only warn you I wish to
be as good a brother to you as you will let me«
There was a little tremor in Toms voice as he uttered the last words and
Maggies ready affection came back with as sudden a glow as when they were
children and bit their cake together as a sacrament of conciliation She rose
and laid her hand on Toms shoulder
»Dear Tom I know you mean to be good I know you have had a great deal to
bear and have done a great deal I should like to be a comfort to you not to
vex you You dont think Im altogether naughty now do you«
Tom smiled at the eager face his smiles were very pleasant to see when they
did come for the grey eyes could be tender underneath the frown
»No Maggie«
»I may turn out better than you expect«
»I hope you will«
»And may I come some day and make tea for you and see this extremely small
wife of Bobs again«
»Yes but trot away now for Ive no more time to spare« said Tom looking
at his watch
»Not to give me a kiss«
Tom bent to kiss her cheek and then said
»There Be a good girl Ive got a great deal to think of today Im going
to have a long consultation with my uncle Deane this afternoon«
»Youll come to aunt Gleggs tomorrow Were going all to dine early that
we may go there to tea You must come Lucy told me to say so«
»O pooh Ive plenty else to do« said Tom pulling his bell violently and
bringing down the small bellrope
»Im frightened I shall run away« said Maggie making a laughing retreat
while Tom with masculine philosophy flung the bellrope to the farther end of
the room not very far either a touch of human experience which I flatter
myself will come home to the bosoms of not a few substantial or distinguished
men who were once at an early stage of their rise in the world and were
cherishing very large hopes in very small lodgings
Chapter V
Showing that Tom Had Opened the Oyster
»And now weve settled this Newcastle business Tom« said Mr Deane that same
afternoon as they were seated in the private room at the Bank together
»theres another matter I want to talk to you about Since youre likely to have
rather a smoky unpleasant time of it at Newcastle for the next few weeks
youll want a good prospect of some sort to keep up your spirits«
Tom waited less nervously than he had done on a former occasion in this
apartment while his uncle took out his snuffbox and gratified each nostril
with deliberate impartiality
»You see Tom« said Mr Deane at last throwing himself backward »the
world goes on at a smarter pace now than it did when I was a young fellow Why
sir forty years ago when I was much such a strapping youngster as you a man
expected to pull between the shafts the best part of his life before he got the
whip in his hand The looms went slowish and fashions didnt alter quite so
fast Id a best suit that lasted me six years Everything was on a lower scale
sir in point of expenditure I mean Its this steam you see that has made
the difference it drives on every wheel double pace and the wheel of fortune
along with em as our Mr Stephen Guest said at the anniversary dinner he hits
these things off wonderfully considering hes seen nothing of business I
dont find fault with the change as some people do Trade sir opens a mans
eyes and if the population is to get thicker upon the ground as its doing
the world must use its wits at inventions of one sort or other I know Ive done
my share as an ordinary man of business Somebody has said its a fine thing to
make two ears of corn grow where only one grew before but sir its a fine
thing too to further the exchange of commodities and bring the grains of corn
to the mouths that are hungry And thats our line of business and I consider
it as honourable a position as a man can hold to be connected with it«
Tom knew that the affair his uncle had to speak of was not urgent Mr Deane
was too shrewd and practical a man to allow either his reminiscences or his
snuff to impede the progress of trade Indeed for the last month or two there
had been hints thrown out to Tom which enabled him to guess that he was going to
hear some proposition for his own benefit With the beginning of the last speech
he had stretched out his legs thrust his hands in his pockets and prepared
himself for some introductory diffuseness tending to show that Mr Deane had
succeeded by his own merit and that what he had to say to young men in general
was that if they didnt succeed too it was because of their own demerit He
was rather surprised then when his uncle put a direct question to him
»Let me see its going on for seven years now since you applied to me for
a situation eh Tom«
»Yes sir Im threeandtwenty now« said Tom
»Ah its as well not to say that though for youd pass for a good deal
older and age tells well in business I remember your coming very well I
remember I saw there was some pluck in you and that was what made me give you
encouragement And Im happy to say I was right Im not often deceived I was
naturally a little shy at pushing my nephew but Im happy to say youve done me
credit sir and if Id had a son o my own I shouldnt have been sorry to see
him like you«
Mr Deane tapped his box and opened it again repeating in a tone of some
feeling »No I shouldnt have been sorry to see him like you«
»Im very glad Ive given you satisfaction sir Ive done my best« said
Tom in his proud independent way
»Yes Tom youve given me satisfaction I dont speak of your conduct as a
son though that weighs with me in my opinion of you But what I have to do
with as a partner in our firm is the qualities youve shown as a man o
business Ours is a fine business a splendid concern sir and theres no
reason why it shouldnt go on growing theres a growing capital and growing
outlets for it but theres another thing thats wanted for the prosperity of
every concern large or small and thats men to conduct it men of the right
habits none o your flashy fellows but such as are to be depended on Now this
is what Mr Guest and I see clear enough Three years ago we took Gell into the
concern we gave him a share in the oilmill And why Why because Gell was a
fellow whose services were worth a premium So it will always be sir So it was
with me And though Gell is pretty near ten years older than you there are
other points in your favour«
Tom was getting a little nervous as Mr Deane went on speaking he was
conscious of something he had in his mind to say which might not be agreeable
to his uncle simply because it was a new suggestion rather than an acceptance
of the proposition he foresaw
»It stands to reason« Mr Deane went on when he had finished his new
pinch »that your being my nephew weighs in your favour but I dont deny that
if youd been no relation of mine at all your conduct in that affair of
Pelleys bank would have led Mr Guest and myself to make some acknowledgment of
the service youve been to us and backed by your general conduct and business
ability it has made us determine on giving you a share in the business a
share which we shall be glad to increase as the years go on We think thatll be
better on all grounds than raising your salary Itll give you more
importance and prepare you better for taking some of the anxiety off my
shoulders byandby Im equal to a good deal o work at present thank God but
Im getting older theres no denying that I told Mr Guest I would open the
subject to you and when you come back from this northern business we can go
into particulars This is a great stride for a young fellow of threeandtwenty
but Im bound to say youve deserved it«
»Im very grateful to Mr Guest and you sir of course I feel the most
indebted to you who first took me into the business and have taken a good deal
of pains with me since«
Tom spoke with a slight tremor and paused after he had said this
»Yes yes« said Mr Deane »I dont spare pains when I see theyll be of
any use I gave myself some trouble with Gell else he wouldnt have been what
he is«
»But theres one thing I should like to mention to you uncle Ive never
spoken to you of it before If you remember at the time my fathers property
was sold there was some thought of your firm buying the Mill I know you
thought it would be a very good investment especially if steam were applied«
»To be sure to be sure But Wakem outbid us hed made up his mind to
that Hes rather fond of carrying everything over other peoples heads«
»Perhaps its of no use my mentioning it at present« Tom went on »but I
wish you to know what I have in my mind about the Mill Ive a strong feeling
about it It was my fathers dying wish that I should try and get it back again
whenever I could it was in his family for five generations I promised my
father and besides that Im attached to the place I shall never like any
other so well And if it should ever suit your views to buy it for the firm I
should have a better chance of fulfilling my fathers wish I shouldnt have
liked to mention the thing to you only youve been kind enough to say my
services have been of some value And Id give up a much greater chance in life
for the sake of having the Mill again I mean having it in my own hands and
gradually working off the price«
Mr Deane had listened attentively and now looked thoughtful
»I see I see« he said after a while »the thing would be possible if
there were any chance of Wakems parting with the property But that I dont
see Hes put that young Jetsome in the place and he had his reasons when he
bought it Ill be bound«
»Hes a loose fish that young Jetsome« said Tom »Hes taking to drinking
and they say hes letting the business go down Luke told me about it our old
miller He says he shant stay unless theres an alteration I was thinking if
things went on in that way Wakem might be more willing to part with the Mill
Luke says hes getting very sour about the way things are going on«
»Well Ill turn it over Tom I must inquire into the matter and go into
it with Mr Guest But you see its rather striking out a new branch and
putting you to that instead of keeping you where you are which was what wed
wanted«
»I should be able to manage more than the mill when things were once set
properly going sir I want to have plenty of work Theres nothing else I care
about much«
There was something rather sad in that speech from a young man of
threeandtwenty even in uncle Deanes businessloving ears
»Pooh pooh youll be having a wife to care about one of these days if you
get on at this pace in the world But as to this Mill we mustnt reckon on our
chickens too early However I promise you to bear it in mind and when you come
back well talk of it again I am going to dinner now Come and breakfast with
us tomorrow morning and say goodbye to your mother and sister before you
start«
Chapter VI
Illustrating the Laws of Attraction
It is evident to you now that Maggie had arrived at a moment in her life which
must be considered by all prudent persons as a great opportunity for a young
woman Launched into the higher society of St Oggs with a striking person
which had the advantage of being quite unfamiliar to the majority of beholders
and with such moderate assistance of costume as you have seen foreshadowed in
Lucys anxious colloquy with aunt Pullet Maggie was certainly at a new
startingpoint in life At Lucys first eveningparty young Torry fatigued his
facial muscles more than usual in order that »the darkeyed girl there in the
corner« might see him in all the additional style conferred by his eyeglass
and several young ladies went home intending to have short sleeves with black
lace and to plait their hair in a broad coronet at the back of their head
»That cousin of Miss Deanes looked so very well« In fact poor Maggie with
all her inward consciousness of a painful past and her presentiment of a
troublous future was on the way to become an object of some envy a topic of
discussion in the newlyestablished billiardroom and between fair friends who
had no secrets from each other on the subject of trimmings The Miss Guests who
associated chiefly on terms of condescension with the families of St Oggs and
were the glass of fashion there took some exception to Maggies manners She
had a way of not assenting at once to the observations current in good society
and of saying that she didnt know whether those observations were true or not
which gave her an air of gaucherie and impeded the even flow of conversation
but it is a fact capable of an amiable interpretation that ladies are not the
worst disposed towards a new acquaintance of their own sex because she has
points of inferiority And Maggie was so entirely without those pretty airs of
coquetry which had the traditional reputation of driving gentlemen to despair
that she won some feminine pity for being so ineffective in spite of her beauty
She had not had many advantages poor thing and it must be admitted there was
no pretension about her her abruptness and unevenness of manner were plainly
the result of her secluded and lowly circumstances It was only a wonder that
there was no tinge of vulgarity about her considering what the rest of poor
Lucys relations were an allusion which always made the Miss Guests shudder a
little It was not agreeable to think of any connection by marriage with such
people as the Gleggs and the Pullets but it was of no use to contradict
Stephen when once he had set his mind on anything and certainly there was no
possible objection to Lucy in herself no one could help liking her She would
naturally desire that the Miss Guests should behave kindly to this cousin of
whom she was so fond and Stephen would make a great fuss if they were deficient
in civility Under these circumstances the invitations to Park House were not
wanting and elsewhere also Miss Deane was too popular and too distinguished a
member of society in St Oggs for any attention towards her to be neglected
Thus Maggie was introduced for the first time to the young ladys life and
knew what it was to get up in the morning without any imperative reason for
doing one thing more than another This new sense of leisure and unchecked
enjoyment amidst the softbreathing airs and gardenscents of advancing spring
amidst the new abundance of music and lingering strolls in the sunshine and
the delicious dreaminess of gliding on the river could hardly be without some
intoxicating effect on her after her years of privation and even in the first
week Maggie began to be less haunted by her sad memories and anticipations Life
was certainly very pleasant just now it was becoming very pleasant to dress in
the evening and to feel that she was one of the beautiful things of this
springtime And there were admiring eyes always awaiting her now she was no
longer an unheeded person liable to be chid from whom attention was
continually claimed and on whom no one felt bound to confer any It was
pleasant too when Stephen and Lucy were gone out riding to sit down at the
piano alone and find that the old fitness between her fingers and the keys
remained and revived like a sympathetic kinship not to be worn out by
separation to get the tunes she had heard the evening before and repeat them
again and again until she had found out a way of producing them so as to make
them a more pregnant passionate language to her The mere concord of octaves
was a delight to Maggie and she would often take up a book of studies rather
than any melody that she might taste more keenly by abstraction the more
primitive sensation of intervals Not that her enjoyment of music was of the
kind that indicates a great specific talent it was rather that her sensibility
to the supreme excitement of music was only one form of that passionate
sensibility which belonged to her whole nature and made her faults and virtues
all merge in each other made her affections sometimes an impatient demand but
also prevented her vanity from taking the form of mere feminine coquetry and
device and gave it the poetry of ambition But you have known Maggie a long
while and need to be told not her characteristics but her history which is a
thing hardly to be predicted even from the completest knowledge of
characteristics For the tragedy of our lives is not created entirely from
within »Character« says Novalis in one of his questionable aphorisms
»character is destiny« But not the whole of our destiny Hamlet Prince of
Denmark was speculative and irresolute and we have a great tragedy in
consequence But if his father had lived to a good old age and his uncle had
died an early death we can conceive Hamlets having married Ophelia and got
through life with a reputation of sanity notwithstanding many soliloquies and
some moody sarcasms towards the fair daughter of Polonius to say nothing of the
frankest incivility to his fatherinlaw
Maggies destiny then is at present hidden and we must wait for it to
reveal itself like the course of an unmapped river we only know that the river
is full and rapid and that for all rivers there is the same final home Under
the charm of her new pleasures Maggie herself was ceasing to think with her
eager prefiguring imagination of her future lot and her anxiety about her
first interview with Philip was losing its predominance perhaps unconsciously
to herself she was not sorry that the interview had been deferred
For Philip had not come the evening he was expected and Mr Stephen Guest
brought word that he was gone to the coast probably he thought on a
sketching expedition but it was not certain when he would return It was just
like Philip to go off in that way without telling any one It was not until
the twelfth day that he returned to find both Lucys notes awaiting him he had
left before he knew of Maggies arrival
Perhaps one had need be nineteen again to be quite convinced of the feelings
that were crowded for Maggie into those twelve days of the length to which
they were stretched for her by the novelty of her experience in them and the
varying attitudes of her mind The early days of an acquaintance almost always
have this importance for us and fill up a larger space in our memory than
longer subsequent periods which have been less filled with discovery and new
impressions There were not many hours in those ten days in which Mr Stephen
Guest was not seated by Lucys side or standing near her at the piano of
accompanying her on some outdoor excursion his attentions were clearly
becoming more assiduous and that was what every one had expected Lucy was very
happy all the happier because Stephens society seemed to have become much more
interesting and amusing since Maggie had been there Playful discussions
sometimes serious ones were going forward in which both Stephen and Maggie
revealed themselves to the admiration of the gentle unobtrusive Lucy and it
more than once crossed her mind what a charming quartet they should have through
life when Maggie married Philip Is it an inexplicable thing that a girl should
enjoy her lovers society the more for the presence of a third person and be
without the slightest spasm of jealousy that the third person had the
conversation habitually directed to her Not when that girl is as
tranquilhearted as Lucy thoroughly possessed with a belief that she knows the
state of her companions affections and not prone to the feelings which shake
such a belief in the absence of positive evidence against it Besides it was
Lucy by whom Stephen sat to whom he gave his arm to whom he appealed as the
person sure to agree with him and every day there was the same tender
politeness towards her the same consciousness of her wants and care to supply
them Was there really the same it seemed to Lucy that there was more and it
was no wonder that the real significance of the change escaped her It was a
subtle act of conscience in Stephen that even he himself was not aware of His
personal attentions to Maggie were comparatively slight and there had even
sprung up an apparent distance between them that prevented the renewal of that
faint resemblance to gallantry into which he had fallen the first day in the
boat If Stephen came in when Lucy was out of the room if Lucy left them
together they never spoke to each other Stephen perhaps seemed to be
examining books on music and Maggie bent her head assiduously over her work
Each was oppressively conscious of the others presence even to the
fingerends Yet each looked and longed for the same thing to happen the next
day Neither of them had begun to reflect on the matter or silently to ask »To
what does all this tend« Maggie only felt that life was revealing something
quite new to her and she was absorbed in the direct immediate experience
without any energy left for taking account of it and reasoning about it Stephen
wilfully abstained from selfquestioning and would not admit to himself that he
felt an influence which was to have any determining effect on his conduct And
when Lucy came into the room again they were once more unconstrained Maggie
could contradict Stephen and laugh at him and he could recommend to her
consideration the example of that most charming heroine Miss Sophia Western
who had a great »respect for the understandings of men« Maggie could look at
Stephen which for some reason or other she always avoided when they were
alone and he could even ask her to play his accompaniment for him since Lucys
fingers were so busy with that bazaarwork and lecture her on hurrying the
tempo which was certainly Maggies weak point
One day it was the day of Philips return Lucy had formed a sudden
engagement to spend the evening with Mrs Kenn whose delicate state of health
threatening to become confirmed illness through an attack of bronchitis obliged
her to resign her functions at the coming bazaar into the hands of other ladies
of whom she wished Lucy to be one The engagement had been formed in Stephens
presence and he had heard Lucy promise to dine early and call at six oclock
for Miss Torry who brought Mrs Kenns request
»Here is another of the moral results of this idiotic bazaar« Stephen burst
forth as soon as Miss Torry had left the room »taking young ladies from the
duties of the domestic hearth into scenes of dissipation among urnrugs and
embroidered reticules I should like to know what is the proper function of
women if it is not to make reasons for husbands to stay at home and still
stronger reasons for bachelors to go out If this goes on much longer the bonds
of society will be dissolved«
»Well it will not go on much longer« said Lucy laughing »for the bazaar
is to take place on Monday week«
»Thank heaven« said Stephen »Kenn himself said the other day that he
didnt like this plan of making vanity do the work of charity but just as the
British public is not reasonable enough to bear direct taxation so St Oggs has
not got force of motive enough to build and endow schools without calling in the
force of folly«
»Did he say so« said little Lucy her hazel eyes opening wide with anxiety
»I never heard him say anything of that kind I thought he approved of what we
were doing«
»Im sure he approves you« said Stephen smiling at her affectionately
»your conduct in going out tonight looks vicious I own but I know there is
benevolence at the bottom of it«
»O you think too well of me« said Lucy shaking her head with a pretty
blush and there the subject ended But it was tacitly understood that Stephen
would not come in the evening and on the strength of that tacit understanding
he made his morning visit the longer not saying goodbye until after four
Maggie was seated in the drawingroom alone shortly after dinner with
Minny on her lap having left her uncle to his wine and his nap and her mother
to the compromise between knitting and nodding which when there was no
company she always carried on in the diningroom till teatime Maggie was
stooping to caress the tiny silken pet and comforting him for his mistresss
absence when the sound of a footstep on the gravel made her look up and she
saw Mr Stephen Guest walking up the garden as if he had come straight from the
river It was very unusual to see him so soon after dinner He often complained
that their dinnerhour was late at Park House Nevertheless there he was in
his black dress he had evidently been home and must have come again by the
river Maggie felt her cheeks glowing and her heart beating it was natural she
should be nervous for she was not accustomed to receive visitors alone He had
seen her look up through the open window and raised his hat as he walked
towards it to enter that way instead of by the door He blushed too and
certainly looked as foolish as a young man of some wit and selfpossession can
be expected to look as he walked in with a roll of music in his hand and said
with an air of hesitating improvisation
»You are surprised to see me again Miss Tulliver I ought to apologise for
coming upon you by surprise but I wanted to come into the town and I got our
man to row me so I thought I would bring these things from the Maid of Artois
for your cousin I forgot them this morning Will you give them to her«
»Yes« said Maggie who had risen confusedly with Minny in her arms and
now not quite knowing what else to do sat down again
Stephen laid down his hat with the music which rolled on the floor and
sat down in the chair close by her He had never done so before and both he and
Maggie were quite aware that it was an entirely new position
»Well you pampered minion« said Stephen leaning to pull the long curly
ears that drooped over Maggies arm It was not a suggestive remark and as the
speaker did not follow it up by further development it naturally left the
conversation at a standstill It seemed to Stephen like some action in a dream
that he was obliged to do and wonder at himself all the while to go on
stroking Minnys head Yet it was very pleasant he only wished he dared look at
Maggie and that she would look at him let him have one long look into those
deep strange eyes of hers and then he would be satisfied and quite reasonable
after that He thought it was becoming a sort of monomania with him to want
that long look from Maggie and he was racking his invention continually to find
out some means by which he could have it without its appearing singular and
entailing subsequent embarrassment As for Maggie she had no distinct thought
only the sense of a presence like that of a closelyhovering broadwinged bird
in the darkness for she was unable to look up and saw nothing but Minnys
black wavy coat
But this must end some time perhaps it ended very soon and only seemed
long as a minutes dream does Stephen at last sat upright sideways in his
chair leaning one hand and arm over the back and looking at Maggie What should
he say
»We shall have a splendid sunset I think shant you go out and see it«
»I dont know« said Maggie Then courageously raising her eyes and looking
out of the window »If Im not playing cribbage with my uncle«
A pause during which Minny is stroked again but has sufficient insight not
to be grateful for it to growl rather
»Do you like sitting alone«
A rather arch look came over Maggies face and just glancing at Stephen
she said »Would it be quite civil to say yes«
»It was rather a dangerous question for an intruder to ask« said Stephen
delighted with that glance and getting determined to stay for another »But you
will have more than half an hour to yourself after I am gone« he added taking
out his watch »I know Mr Deane never comes in till halfpast seven«
Another pause during which Maggie looked steadily out of the window till
by a great effort she moved her head to look down at Minnys back again and
said
»I wish Lucy had not been obliged to go out We lose our music«
»We shall have a new voice tomorrow night« said Stephen »Will you tell
your cousin that our friend Philip Wakem is come back I saw him as I went
home«
Maggie gave a little start it seemed hardly more than a vibration that
passed from head to foot in an instant But the new images summoned by Philips
name dispersed half the oppressive spell she had been under She rose from her
chair with a sudden resolution and laying Minny on his cushion went to reach
Lucys large workbasket from its corner Stephen was vexed and disappointed he
thought perhaps Maggie didnt like the name of Wakem to be mentioned to her in
that abrupt way for he now recalled what Lucy had told him of the family
quarrel It was of no use to stay any longer Maggie was seating herself at the
table with her work and looking chill and proud and he he looked like a
simpleton for having come A gratuitous entirely superfluous visit of that sort
was sure to make a man disagreeable and ridiculous Of course it was palpable to
Maggies thinking that he had dined hastily in his own room for the sake of
setting off again and finding her alone
A boyish state of mind for an accomplished young gentleman of
fiveandtwenty not without legal knowledge But a reference to history
perhaps may make it not incredible
At this moment Maggies ball of knittingwool rolled along the ground and
she started up to reach it Stephen rose too and picking up the ball met her
with a vexed complaining look that gave his eyes quite a new expression to
Maggie whose own eyes met them as he presented the ball to her
»Goodbye« said Stephen in a tone that had the same beseeching discontent
as his eyes He dared not put out his hand he thrust both hands into his
tailpockets as he spoke Maggie thought she had perhaps been rude
»Wont you stay« she said timidly not looking away for that would have
seemed rude again
»No thank you« said Stephen looking still into the halfunwilling
halffascinated eyes as a thirsty man looks towards the track of the distant
brook »The boat is waiting for me Youll tell your cousin«
»Yes«
»That I brought the music I mean«
»Yes«
»And that Philip is come back«
»Yes« Maggie did not notice Philips name this time
»Wont you come out a little way into the garden« said Stephen in a still
gentler tone but the next moment he was vexed that she did not say »No« for
she moved away now towards the open window and he was obliged to take his hat
and walk by her side But he thought of something to make him amends
»Do take my arm« he said in a low tone as if it were a secret
There is something strangely winning to most women in that offer of the firm
arm the help is not wanted physically at that moment but the sense of help
the presence of strength that is outside them and yet theirs meets a continual
want of the imagination Either on that ground or some other Maggie took the
arm And they walked together round the grass plot and under the drooping green
of the laburnums in the same dim dreamy state as they had been in a quarter of
an hour before only that Stephen had had the look he longed for without yet
perceiving in himself the symptoms of returning reasonableness and Maggie had
darting thoughts across the dimness how came she to be there why had she
come out Not a word was spoken If it had been each would have been less
intensely conscious of the other
»Take care of this step« said Stephen at last
»O I will go in now« said Maggie feeling that the step had come like a
rescue »Good evening«
In an instant she had withdrawn her arm and was running back to the house
She did not reflect that this sudden action would only add to the embarrassing
recollections of the last halfhour She had no thought left for that She only
threw herself into the low armchair and burst into tears
»O Philip Philip I wish we were together again so quietly in the Red
Deeps«
Stephen looked after her a moment then went on to the boat and was soon
landed at the wharf He spent the evening in the billiardroom smoking one
cigar after another and losing »lives« at pool But he would not leave off He
was determined not to think not to admit any more distinct remembrance than
was urged upon him by the perpetual presence of Maggie He was looking at her
and she was on his arm
But there came the necessity of walking home in the cool starlight and with
it the necessity of cursing his own folly and bitterly determining that he
would never trust himself alone with Maggie again It was all madness he was in
love thoroughly attached to Lucy and engaged engaged as strongly as an
honourable man need be He wished he had never seen this Maggie Tulliver to be
thrown into a fever by her in this way she would make a sweet strange
troublesome adorable wife to some man or other but he would never have chosen
her himself Did she feel as he did He hoped she did not He ought not to
have gone He would master himself in future He would make himself disagreeable
to her quarrel with her perhaps Quarrel with her Was it possible to quarrel
with a creature who had such eyes defying and deprecating contradicting and
clinging imperious and beseeching full of delicious opposites To see such a
creature subdued by love for one would be a lot worth having to another man
There was a muttered exclamation which ended this inward soliloquy as
Stephen threw away the end of his last cigar and thrusting his hands into his
pockets stalked along at a quieter pace through the shrubbery It was not of a
benedictory kind
Chapter VII
Philip ReEnters
The next morning was very wet the sort of morning on which male neighbours who
have no imperative occupation at home are likely to pay their fair friends an
illimitable visit The rain which has been endurable enough for the walk or
ride one way is sure to become so heavy and at the same time so certain to
clear up byandby that nothing but an open quarrel can abbreviate the visit
latent detestation will not do at all And if people happen to be lovers what
can be so delightful in England as a rainy morning English sunshine is
dubious bonnets are never quite secure and if you sit down on the grass it
may lead to catarrhs But the rain is to be depended on You gallop through it
in a mackintosh and presently find yourself in the seat you like best a
little above or a little below the one on which your goddess sits it is the
same thing to the metaphysical mind and that is the reason why women are at
once worshipped and looked down upon with a satisfactory confidence that there
will be no ladycallers
»Stephen will come earlier this morning I know« said Lucy »he always does
when its rainy«
Maggie made no answer She was angry with Stephen she began to think she
should dislike him and if it had not been for the rain she would have gone to
her aunt Gleggs this morning and so have avoided him altogether As it was
she must find some reason for remaining out of the room with her mother
But Stephen did not come earlier and there was another visitor a nearer
neighbour who preceded him When Philip entered the room he was going merely
to bow to Maggie feeling that their acquaintance was a secret which he was
bound not to betray but when she advanced towards him and put out her hand he
guessed at once that Lucy had been taken into her confidence It was a moment of
some agitation to both though Philip had spent many hours in preparing for it
but like all persons who have passed through life with little expectation of
sympathy he seldom lost his selfcontrol and shrank with the most sensitive
pride from any noticeable betrayal of emotion A little extra paleness a little
tension of the nostril when he spoke and the voice pitched in rather a higher
key that to strangers would seem expressive of cold indifference were all the
signs Philip usually gave of an inward drama that was not without its
fierceness But Maggie who had little more power of concealing the impressions
made upon her than if she had been constructed of musical strings felt her eyes
getting larger with tears as they took each others hands in silence They were
not painful tears they had rather something of the same origin as the tears
women and children shed when they have found some protection to cling to and
look back on the threatened danger For Philip who a little while ago was
associated continually in Maggies mind with the sense that Tom might reproach
her with some justice had now in this short space become a sort of outward
conscience to her that she might fly to for rescue and strength Her tranquil
tender affection for Philip with its root deep down in her childhood and its
memories of long quiet talk confirming by distinct successive impressions the
first instinctive bias the fact that in him the appeal was more strongly to
her pity and womanly devotedness than to her vanity or other egoistic
excitability of her nature seemed now to make a sort of sacred place a
sanctuary where she could find refuge from an alluring influence which the best
part of herself must resist which must bring horrible tumult within
wretchedness without This new sense of her relation to Philip nullified the
anxious scruples she would otherwise have felt lest she should overstep the
limit of intercourse with him that Tom would sanction and she put out her hand
to him and felt the tears in her eyes without any consciousness of an inward
check The scene was just what Lucy expected and her kind heart delighted in
bringing Philip and Maggie together again though even with all her regard for
Philip she could not resist the impression that her cousin Tom had some excuse
for feeling shocked at the physical incongruity between the two a prosaic
person like cousin Tom who didnt like poetry and fairy tales But she began to
speak as soon as possible to set them at ease
»This was very good and virtuous of you« she said in her pretty treble
like the low conversational notes of little birds »to come so soon after your
arrival And as it is I think I will pardon you for running away in an
inopportune manner and giving your friends no notice Come and sit down here«
she went on placing the chair that would suit him best »and you shall find
yourself treated mercifully«
»You will never govern well Miss Deane« said Philip as he seated himself
»because no one will ever believe in your severity People will always encourage
themselves in misdemeanours by the certainty that you will be indulgent«
Lucy gave some playful contradiction but Philip did not hear what it was
for he had naturally turned towards Maggie and she was looking at him with that
open affectionate scrutiny which we give to a friend from whom we have been
long separated What a moment their parting had been And Philip felt as if he
were only in the morrow of it He felt this so keenly with such intense
detailed remembrance with such passionate revival of all that had been said
and looked in their last conversation that with that jealousy and distrust
which in diffident natures is almost inevitably linked with a strong feeling he
thought he read in Maggies glance and manner the evidence of a change The very
fact that he feared and half expected it would be sure to make this thought
rush in in the absence of positive proof to the contrary
»I am having a great holiday am I not« said Maggie »Lucy is like a fairy
godmother she has turned me from a drudge into a princess in no time I do
nothing but indulge myself all day long and she always finds out what I want
before I know it myself«
»Im sure she is the happier for having you then« said Philip »You must
be better than a whole menagerie of pets to her And you look well you are
benefiting by the change«
Artificial conversation of this sort went on a little while till Lucy
determined to put an end to it exclaimed with a good imitation of annoyance
that she had forgotten something and was quickly out of the room
In a moment Maggie and Philip leaned forward and the hands were clasped
again with a look of sad contentment like that of friends who meet in the
memory of recent sorrow
»I told my brother I wished to see you Philip I asked him to release me
from my promise and he consented«
Maggie in her impulsiveness wanted Philip to know at once the position
they must hold towards each other but she checked herself The things that had
happened since he had spoken of his love for her were so painful that she shrank
from being the first to allude to them It seemed almost like an injury towards
Philip even to mention her brother her brother who had insulted him But he
was thinking too entirely of her to be sensitive on any other point at that
moment
»Then we can at least be friends Maggie There is nothing to hinder that
now«
»Will not your father object« said Maggie withdrawing her hand
»I should not give you up on any ground but your own wish Maggie« said
Philip colouring »There are points on which I should always resist my father
as I used to tell you That is one«
»Then there is nothing to hinder our being friends Philip seeing each
other and talking to each other while I am here I shall soon go away again I
mean to go very soon to a new situation«
»Is that inevitable Maggie«
»Yes I must not stay here long It would unfit me for the life I must begin
again at last I cant live in dependence I cant live with my brother
though he is very good to me He would like to provide for me but that would be
intolerable to me«
Philip was silent a few moments and then said in that high feeble voice
which with him indicated the resolute suppression of emotion
»Is there no other alternative Maggie Is that life away from those who
love you the only one you will allow yourself to look forward to«
»Yes Philip« she said looking at him pleadingly as if she entreated him
to believe that she was compelled to this course »At least as things are I
dont know what may be in years to come But I begin to think there can never
come much happiness to me from loving I have always had so much pain mingled
with it I wish I could make myself a world outside it as men do«
»Now you are returning to your old thought in a new form Maggie the
thought I used to combat« said Philip with a slight tinge of bitterness »You
want to find out a mode of renunciation that will be an escape from pain I tell
you again there is no such escape possible except by perverting or mutilating
ones nature What would become of me if I tried to escape from pain Scorn and
cynicism would be my only opium unless I could fall into some kind of conceited
madness and fancy myself a favourite of Heaven because I am not a favourite
with men«
The bitterness had taken on some impetuosity as Philip went on speaking the
words were evidently an outlet for some immediate feeling of his own as well as
an answer to Maggie There was a pain pressing on him at that moment He shrank
with proud delicacy from the faintest allusion to the words of love of
plighted love that had passed between them It would have seemed to him like
reminding Maggie of a promise it would have had for him something of the
baseness of compulsion He could not dwell on the fact that he himself had not
changed for that too would have had the air of an appeal His love for Maggie
was stamped even more than the rest of his experience with the exaggerated
sense that he was an exception that she that every one saw him in the light
of an exception
But Maggie was consciencestricken
»Yes Philip« she said with her childish contrition when he used to chide
her »you are right I know I do always think too much of my own feelings and
not enough of others not enough of yours I had need have you always to find
fault with me and teach me so many things have come true that you used to tell
me«
Maggie was resting her elbow on the table leaning her head on her hand and
looking at Philip with halfpenitent dependent affection as she said this
while he was returning her gaze with an expression that to her consciousness
gradually became less vague became charged with a specific recollection Had
his mind flown back to something that she now remembered something about a
lover of Lucys It was a thought that made her shudder it gave new
definiteness to her present position and to the tendency of what had happened
the evening before She moved her arm from the table urged to change her
position by that positive physical oppression at the heart that sometimes
accompanies a sudden mental pang
»What is the matter Maggie Has something happened« Philip said in
inexpressible anxiety his imagination being only too ready to weave everything
that was fatal to them both
»No nothing« said Maggie rousing her latent will Philip must not have
that odious thought in his mind she would banish it from her own »Nothing«
she repeated »except in my own mind You used to say I should feel the effect
of my starved life as you called it and I do I am too eager in my enjoyment
of music and all luxuries now they are come to me«
She took up her work and occupied herself resolutely while Philip watched
her really in doubt whether she had anything more than this general allusion in
her mind It was quite in Maggies character to be agitated by vague
selfreproach But soon there came a violent wellknown ring at the doorbell
resounding through the house
»O what a startling announcement« said Maggie quite mistress of herself
though not without some inward flutter »I wonder where Lucy is«
Lucy had not been deaf to the signal and after an interval long enough for
a few solicitous but not hurried inquiries she herself ushered Stephen in
»Well old fellow« he said going straight up to Philip and shaking him
heartily by the hand bowing to Maggie in passing »its glorious to have you
back again only I wish youd conduct yourself a little less like a sparrow with
a residence on the housetop and not go in and out constantly without letting
the servants know This is about the twentieth time Ive had to scamper up those
countless stairs to that paintingroom of yours all to no purpose because your
people thought you were at home Such incidents embitter friendship«
»Ive so few visitors it seems hardly worth while to leave notice of my
exit and entrances« said Philip feeling rather oppressed just then by
Stephens bright strong presence and strong voice
»Are you quite well this morning Miss Tulliver« said Stephen turning to
Maggie with stiff politeness and putting out his hand with the air of
fulfilling a social duty
Maggie gave the tips of her fingers and said »Quite well thank you« in a
tone of proud indifference Philips eyes were watching them keenly but Lucy
was used to seeing variations in their manner to each other and only thought
with regret that there was some natural antipathy which every now and then
surmounted their mutual goodwill »Maggie is not the sort of woman Stephen
admires and she is irritated by something in him which she interprets as
conceit« was the silent observation that accounted for everything to guileless
Lucy Stephen and Maggie had no sooner completed this studied greeting than each
felt hurt by the others coldness And Stephen while rattling on in questions
to Philip about his recent sketching expedition was thinking all the more about
Maggie because he was not drawing her into the conversation as he had invariably
done before »Maggie and Philip are not looking happy« thought Lucy »this
first interview has been saddening to them«
»I think we people who have not been galloping« she said to Stephen »are
all a little damped by the rain Let us have some music We ought to take
advantage of having Philip and you together Give us the duet in Masaniello
Maggie has not heard that and I know it will suit her«
»Come then« said Stephen going towards the piano and giving a foretaste
of the tune in his deep »brumbrum« very pleasant to hear
»You please Philip you play the accompaniment« said Lucy »and then I
can go on with my work You will like to play shant you« she added with a
pretty inquiring look anxious as usual lest she should have proposed what was
not pleasant to another but with yearnings towards her unfinished embroidery
Philip had brightened at the proposition for there is no feeling perhaps
except the extremes of fear and grief that does not find relief in music that
does not make a man sing or play the better and Philip had an abundance of
pentup feeling at this moment as complex as any trio or quartet that was ever
meant to express love and jealousy and resignation and fierce suspicion all at
the same time
»O yes« he said seating himself at the piano »it is a way of eking out
ones imperfect life and being three people at once to sing and make the piano
sing and hear them both all the while or else to sing and paint«
»Ah there you are an enviable fellow I can do nothing with my hands« said
Stephen »That has generally been observed in men of great administrative
capacity I believe A tendency to predominance of the reflective powers in me
havent you observed that Miss Tulliver«
Stephen had fallen by mistake into his habit of playful appeal to Maggie
and she could not repress the answering flush and epigram
»I have observed a tendency to predominance« she said smiling and Philip
at that moment devoutly hoped that she found the tendency disagreeable
»Come come« said Lucy »music music We will discuss each others
qualities another time«
Maggie always tried in vain to go on with her work when music began She
tried harder than ever today for the thought that Stephen knew how much she
cared for his singing was one that no longer roused a merely playful resistance
and she knew too that it was his habit always to stand so that he could look
at her But it was of no use she soon threw her work down and all her
intentions were lost in the vague state of emotion produced by the inspiring
duet emotion that seemed to make her at once strong and weak strong for all
enjoyment weak for all resistance When the strain passed into the minor she
halfstarted from her seat with the sudden thrill of that change Poor Maggie
She looked very beautiful when her soul was being played on in this way by the
inexorable power of sound You might have seen the slightest perceptible
quivering through her whole frame as she leaned a little forward clasping her
hands as if to steady herself while her eyes dilated and brightened into that
wideopen childish expression of wondering delight which always came back in
her happiest moments Lucy who at other times had always been at the piano when
Maggie was looking in this way could not resist the impulse to steal up to her
and kiss her Philip too caught a glimpse of her now and then round the open
book on the desk and felt that he had never before seen her under so strong an
influence
»More more« said Lucy when the duet had been encored »Something spirited
again Maggie always says she likes a great rush of sound«
»It must be Let us take the road then« said Stephen »so suitable for a
wet morning But are you prepared to abandon the most sacred duties of life and
come and sing with us«
»O yes« said Lucy laughing »If you will look out the Beggars Opera from
the large canterbury It has a dingy cover«
»That is a great clue considering there are about a score covers here of
rival dinginess« said Stephen drawing out the canterbury
»O play something the while Philip« said Lucy noticing that his fingers
were wandering over the keys »What is that you are falling into something
delicious that I dont know«
»Dont you know that« said Philip bringing out the tune more definitely
»Its from the Somnambula Ah perchè non posso odiarti I dont know the
opera but it appears the tenor is telling the heroine that he shall always love
her though she may forsake him Youve heard me sing it to the English words I
love thee still«
It was not quite unintentionally that Philip had wandered into this song
which might be an indirect expression to Maggie of what he could not prevail on
himself to say to her directly Her ears had been open to what he was saying
and when he began to sing she understood the plaintive passion of the music
That pleading tenor had no very fine qualities as a voice but it was not quite
new to her it had sung to her by snatches in a subdued way among the grassy
walks and hollows and underneath the leaning ashtree in the Red Deeps There
seemed to be some reproach in the words did Philip mean that She wished she
had assured him more distinctly in their conversation that she desired not to
renew the hope of love between them only because it clashed with her inevitable
circumstances She was touched not thrilled by the song it suggested distinct
memories and thoughts and brought quiet regret in the place of excitement
»Thats the way with you tenors« said Stephen who was waiting with music
in his hand while Philip finished the song »You demoralise the fair sex by
warbling your sentimental love and constancy under all sorts of vile treatment
Nothing short of having your heads served up in a dish like that mediæval tenor
or troubadour would prevent you from expressing your entire resignation I must
administer an antidote while Miss Deane prepares to tear herself away from her
bobbins«
Stephen rolled out with saucy energy
»Shall I wasting in despair
Die because a womans fair«
and seemed to make all the air in the room alive with a new influence Lucy
always proud of what Stephen did went towards the piano with laughing admiring
looks at him and Maggie in spite of her resistance to the spirit of the song
and to the singer was taken hold of and shaken by the invisible influence was
borne along by a wave too strong for her
But angrily resolved not to betray herself she seized her work and went
on making false stitches and pricking her fingers with much perseverance not
looking up or taking notice of what was going forward until all the three
voices united in »Let us take the road«
I am afraid there would have been a subtle stealing gratification in her
mind if she had known how entirely this saucy defiant Stephen was occupied with
her how he was passing rapidly from a determination to treat her with
ostentatious indifference to an irritating desire for some sign of inclination
from her some interchange of subdued word or look with her It was not long
before he found an opportunity when they had passed to the music of »The
Tempest« Maggie feeling the need of a footstool was walking across the room
to get one when Stephen who was not singing just then and was conscious of
all her movements guessed her want and flew to anticipate her lifting the
footstool with an entreating look at her which made it impossible not to return
a glance of gratitude And then to have the footstool placed carefully by a too
selfconfident personage not any selfconfident personage but one in
particular who suddenly looks humble and anxious and lingers bending still
to ask if there is not some draught in that position between the window and the
fireplace and if he may not be allowed to move the worktable for her these
things will summon a little of the tooready traitorous tenderness into a
womans eyes compelled as she is in her girlish time to learn her lifelessons
in very trivial language And to Maggie such things had not been everyday
incidents but were a new element in her life and found her keen appetite for
homage quite fresh That tone of gentle solicitude obliged her to look at the
face that was bent towards her and to say »No thank you« and nothing could
prevent that mutual glance from being delicious to both as it had been the
evening before
It was but an ordinary act of politeness in Stephen it had hardly taken two
minutes and Lucy who was singing scarcely noticed it But to Philips mind
filled already with a vague anxiety that was likely to find a definite ground
for itself in any trivial incident this sudden eagerness in Stephen and the
change in Maggies face which was plainly reflecting a beam from his seemed so
strong a contrast with the previous overwrought signs of indifference as to be
charged with painful meaning Stephens voice pouring in again jarred upon his
nervous susceptibility as if it had been the clang of sheetiron and he felt
inclined to make the piano shriek in utter discord He had really seen no
communicable ground for suspecting any unusual feeling between Stephen and
Maggie his own reason told him so and he wanted to go home at once that he
might reflect coolly on these false images till he had convinced himself of
their nullity But then again he wanted to stay as long as Stephen stayed
always to be present when Stephen was present with Maggie It seemed to poor
Philip so natural nay inevitable that any man who was near Maggie should fall
in love with her There was no promise of happiness for her if she were beguiled
into loving Stephen Guest and this thought emboldened Philip to view his own
love for her in the light of a less unequal offering He was beginning to play
very falsely under this deafening inward tumult and Lucy was looking at him in
astonishment when Mrs Tullivers entrance to summon them to lunch came as an
excuse for abruptly breaking off the music
»Ah Mr Philip« said Mr Deane when they entered the diningroom »Ive
not seen you for a long while Your fathers not at home I think is he I went
after him to the office the other day and they said he was out of town«
»Hes been to Mudport on business for several days« said Philip »but hes
come back now«
»As fond of his farming hobby as ever eh«
»I believe so« said Philip rather wondering at this sudden interest in his
fathers pursuits
»Ah« said Mr Deane »hes got some land in his own hands on this side the
river as well as the other I think«
»Yes he has«
»Ah« continued Mr Deane as he dispensed the pigeonpie »he must find
farming a heavy item an expensive hobby I never had a hobby myself never
would give in to that And the worst of all hobbies are those that people think
they can get money at They shoot their money down like corn out of a sack
then«
Lucy felt a little nervous under her fathers apparently gratuitous
criticism of Mr Wakems expenditure But it ceased there and Mr Deane became
unusually silent and meditative during his luncheon Lucy accustomed to watch
all indications in her father and having reasons which had recently become
strong for an extra interest in what referred to the Wakems felt an unusual
curiosity to know what had prompted her fathers questions His subsequent
silence made her suspect there had been some special reason for them in his
mind
With this idea in her head she resorted to her usual plan when she wanted
to tell or ask her father anything particular she found a reason for her aunt
Tulliver to leave the diningroom after dinner and seated herself on a small
stool at her fathers knee Mr Deane under those circumstances considered
that he tasted some of the most agreeable moments his merits had purchased him
in life notwithstanding that Lucy disliking to have her hair powdered with
snuff usually began by mastering his snuffbox on such occasions
»You dont want to go to sleep yet papa do you« she said as she brought
up her stool and opened the large fingers that clutched the snuffbox
»Not yet« said Mr Deane glancing at the reward of merit in the decanter
»But what do you want« he added pinching the dimpled chin fondly »To coax
some more sovereigns out of my pocket for your bazaar Eh«
»No I have no base motives at all today I only want to talk not to beg
I want to know what made you ask Philip Wakem about his fathers farming today
papa It seemed rather odd because you never hardly say anything to him about
his father and why should you care about Mr Wakems losing money by his
hobby«
»Something to do with business« said Mr Deane waving his hands as if to
repel intrusion into that mystery
»But papa you always say Mr Wakem has brought Philip up like a girl how
came you to think you should get any business knowledge out of him Those abrupt
questions sounded rather oddly Philip thought them queer«
»Nonsense child« said Mr Deane willing to justify his social demeanour
with which he had taken some pains in his upward progress »Theres a report
that Wakems mill and farm on the other side of the river Dorlcote Mill your
uncle Tullivers you know isnt answering so well as it did I wanted to see
if your friend Philip would let anything out about his fathers being tired of
farming«
»Why Would you buy the mill papa if he would part with it« said Lucy
eagerly »O tell me everything here you shall have your snuffbox if youll
tell me Because Maggie says all their hearts are set on Toms getting back the
mill some time It was one of the last things her father said to Tom that he
must get back the mill«
»Hush you little puss« said Mr Deane availing himself of the restored
snuffbox »You must not say a word about this thing do you hear Theres very
little chance of their getting the mill or of anybodys getting it out of
Wakems hands And if he knew that we wanted it with a view to the Tullivers
getting it again hed be the less likely to part with it Its natural after
what happened He behaved well enough to Tulliver before but a horsewhipping is
not likely to be paid for with sugarplums«
»Now papa« said Lucy with a little air of solemnity »will you trust me
You must not ask me all my reasons for what Im going to say but I have very
strong reasons And Im very cautious I am indeed«
»Well let us hear«
»Why I believe if you will let me take Philip Wakem into our confidence
let me tell him all about your wish to buy and what its for that my cousins
wish to have it and why they wish to have it I believe Philip would help to
bring it about I know he would desire to do it«
»I dont see how that can be child« said Mr Deane looking puzzled »Why
should he care« then with a sudden penetrating look at his daughter »You
dont think the poor lads fond of you and so you can make him do what you
like« Mr Deane felt quite safe about his daughters affections
»No papa he cares very little about me not so much as I care about him
But I have a reason for being quite sure of what I say Dont you ask me And if
you ever guess dont tell me Only give me leave to do as I think fit about
it«
Lucy rose from her stool to seat herself on her fathers knee and kissed
him with that last request
»Are you sure you wont do mischief now« he said looking at her with
delight
»Yes papa quite sure Im very wise Ive got all your business talents
Didnt you admire my accomptbook now when I showed it you«
»Well well if this youngster will keep his counsel there wont be much
harm done And to tell the truth I think theres not much chance for us any
other way Now let me go off to sleep«
Chapter VIII
Wakem in a New Light
Before three days had passed after the conversation you have just overheard
between Lucy and her father she had contrived to have a private interview with
Philip during a visit of Maggies to her aunt Glegg For a day and a night
Philip turned over in his mind with restless agitation all that Lucy had told
him in that interview till he had thoroughly resolved on a course of action He
thought he saw before him now a possibility of altering his position with
respect to Maggie and removing at least one obstacle between them He laid his
plan and calculated all his moves with the fervid deliberation of a chessplayer
in the days of his first ardour and was amazed himself at his sudden genius as
a tactician His plan was as bold as it was thoroughly calculated Having
watched for a moment when his father had nothing more urgent on his hands than
the newspaper he went behind him laid a hand on his shoulder and said
»Father will you come into my sanctum and look at my new sketches Ive
arranged them now«
»Im getting terribly stiff in the joints Phil for climbing those stairs
of yours« said Wakem looking kindly at his son as he laid down his paper »But
come along then«
»This is a nice place for you isnt it Phil a capital light that from
the roof eh« was as usual the first thing he said on entering the
paintingroom He liked to remind himself and his son too that his fatherly
indulgence had provided the accommodation He had been a good father Emily
would have nothing to reproach him with there if she came back again from her
grave
»Come come« he said putting his double eyeglass over his nose and
seating himself to take a general view while he rested »youve got a famous
show here Upon my word I dont see that your things arent as good as that
London artists whats his name that Leyburn gave so much money for«
Philip shook his head and smiled He had seated himself on his
paintingstool and had taken a lead pencil in his hand with which he was
making strong marks to counteract the sense of tremulousness He watched his
father get up and walk slowly round goodnaturedly dwelling on the pictures
much longer than his amount of genuine taste for landscape would have prompted
till he stopped before a stand on which two pictures were placed one much
larger than the other the smaller one in a leather case
»Bless me what have you here« said Wakem startled by a sudden transition
from landscape to portrait »I thought youd left off figures Who are these«
»They are the same person« said Philip with calm promptness »at different
ages«
»And what person« said Wakem sharply fixing his eyes with a growing look
of suspicion on the larger picture
»Miss Tulliver The small one is something like what she was when I was at
school with her brother at Kings Lorton the larger one is not quite so good a
likeness of what she was when I came from abroad«
Wakem turned round fiercely with a flushed face letting his eyeglass
fall and looking at his son with a savage expression for a moment as if he was
ready to strike that daring feebleness from the stool But he threw himself into
the armchair again and thrust his hands into his trouserpockets still
looking angrily at his son however Philip did not return the look but sat
quietly watching the point of his pencil
»And do you mean to say then that you have had any acquaintance with her
since you came from abroad« said Wakem at last with that vain effort which
rage always makes to throw as much punishment as it desires to inflict into
words and tones since blows are forbidden
»Yes I saw a great deal of her for a whole year before her fathers death
We met often in that thicket the Red Deeps near Dorlcote Mill I love her
dearly I shall never love any other woman I have thought of her ever since she
was a little girl«
»Go on sir and you have corresponded with her all this while«
»No I never told her I loved her till just before we parted and she
promised her brother not to see me again or to correspond with me I am not sure
that she loves me or would consent to marry me But if she would consent if
she did love me well enough I should marry her«
»And this is the return you make me for all the indulgences Ive heaped on
you« said Wakem getting white and beginning to tremble under an enraged sense
of impotence before Philips calm defiance and concentration of purpose
»No father« said Philip looking up at him for the first time »I dont
regard it as a return You have been an indulgent father to me but I have
always felt that it was because you had an affectionate wish to give me as much
happiness as my unfortunate lot would admit of not that it was a debt you
expected me to pay by sacrificing all my chances of happiness to satisfy
feelings of yours which I can never share«
»I think most sons would share their fathers feelings in this case« said
Wakem bitterly »The girls father was an ignorant mad brute who was within an
inch of murdering me The whole town knows it And the brother is just as
insolent only in a cooler way He forbade her seeing you you say hell break
every bone in your body for your greater happiness if you dont take care But
you seem to have made up your mind you have counted the consequences I
suppose Of course you are independent of me you can marry this girl tomorrow
if you like you are a man of fiveandtwenty you can go your way and I can
go mine We need have no more to do with each other«
Wakem rose and walked towards the door but something held him back and
instead of leaving the room he walked up and down it Philip was slow to reply
and when he spoke his tone had a more incisive quietness and clearness than
ever
»No I cant marry Miss Tulliver even if she would have me if I have only
my own resources to maintain her with I have been brought up to no profession
I cant offer her poverty as well as deformity«
»Ah there is a reason for your clinging to me doubtless« said Wakem
still bitterly though Philips last words had given him a pang they had
stirred a feeling which had been a habit for a quarter of a century He threw
himself into the chair again
»I expected all this« said Philip »I know these scenes are often happening
between father and son If I were like other men of my age I might answer your
angry words by still angrier we might part I should marry the woman I love
and have a chance of being as happy as the rest But if it will be a
satisfaction to you to annihilate the very object of everything youve done for
me you have an advantage over most fathers you can completely deprive me of
the only thing that would make my life worth having«
Philip paused but his father was silent
»You know best what satisfaction you would have beyond that of gratifying a
ridiculous rancour worthy only of wandering savages«
»Ridiculous rancour« Wakem burst out »What do you mean Damn it is a man
to be horsewhipped by a boor and love him for it Besides theres that cold
proud devil of a son who said a word to me I shall not forget when we had the
settling He would be as pleasant a mark for a bullet as I know if he were
worth the expense«
»I dont mean your resentment towards them« said Philip who had his
reasons for some sympathy with this view of Tom »though a feeling of revenge is
not worth much that you should care to keep it I mean your extending the
enmity to a helpless girl who has too much sense and goodness to share their
narrow prejudices She has never entered into the family quarrels«
»What does that signify We dont ask what a woman does we ask whom she
belongs to Its altogether a degrading thing to you to think of marrying old
Tullivers daughter«
For the first time in the dialogue Philip lost some of his selfcontrol
and coloured with anger
»Miss Tulliver« he said with bitter incisiveness »has the only grounds of
rank that anything but vulgar folly can suppose to belong to the middle class
she is thoroughly refined and her friends whatever else they may be are
respected for irreproachable honour and integrity All St Oggs I fancy would
pronounce her to be more than my equal«
Wakem darted a glance of fierce question at his son but Philip was not
looking at him and with a certain penitent consciousness went on in a few
moments as if in amplification of his last words
»Find a single person in St Oggs who will not tell you that a beautiful
creature like her would be throwing herself away on a pitiable object like me«
»Not she« said Wakem rising again and forgetting everything else in a
burst of resentful pride half fatherly half personal »It would be a deuced
fine match for her Its all stuff about an accidental deformity when a girls
really attached to a man«
»But girls are not apt to get attached under those circumstances« said
Philip
»Well then« said Wakem rather brutally trying to recover his previous
position »if she doesnt care for you you might have spared yourself the
trouble of talking to me about her and you might have spared me the trouble of
refusing my consent to what was never likely to happen«
Wakem strode to the door and without looking round again banged it after
him
Philip was not without confidence that his father would be ultimately
wrought upon as he had expected by what had passed but the scene had jarred
upon his nerves which were as sensitive as a womans He determined not to go
down to dinner he couldnt meet his father again that day It was Wakems
habit when he had no company at home to go out in the evening often as early
as halfpast seven and as it was far on in the afternoon now Philip locked up
his room and went out for a long ramble thinking he would not return until his
father was out of the house again He got into a boat and went down the river
to a favourite village where he dined and lingered till it was late enough for
him to return He had never had any sort of quarrel with his father before and
had a sickening fear that this contest just begun might go on for weeks and
what might not happen in that time He would not allow himself to define what
that involuntary question meant But if he could once be in the position of
Maggies accepted acknowledged lover there would be less room for vague dread
He went up to his paintingroom again and threw himself with a sense of
fatigue into the armchair looking round absently at the views of water and
rock that were ranged around till he fell into a doze in which he fancied
Maggie was slipping down a glistening green slimy channel of a waterfall and
he was looking on helpless till he was awakened by what seemed a sudden awful
crash
It was the opening of the door and he could hardly have dozed more than a
few moments for there was no perceptible change in the evening light It was
his father who entered and when Philip moved to vacate the chair for him he
said
»Sit still Id rather walk about«
He stalked up and down the room once or twice and then standing opposite
Philip with his hand thrust in his sidepockets he said as if continuing a
conversation that had not been broken off
»But this girl seems to have been fond of you Phil else she wouldnt have
met you in that way«
Philips heart was beating rapidly and a transient flush passed over his
face like a gleam It was not quite easy to speak at once
»She liked me at Kings Lorton when she was a little girl because I used
to sit with her brother a great deal when he had hurt his foot She had kept
that in her memory and thought of me as a friend of a long while ago She
didnt think of me as a lover when she met me«
»Well but you made love to her at last What did she say then« said Wakem
walking about again
»She said she did love me then«
»Confound it then what else do you want Is she a jilt«
»She was very young then« said Philip hesitatingly »Im afraid she hardly
knew what she felt Im afraid our long separation and the idea that events
must always divide us may have made a difference«
»But shes in the town Ive seen her at church Havent you spoken to her
since you came back«
»Yes at Mr Deanes But I couldnt renew my proposals to her on several
grounds One obstacle would be removed if you would give your consent if you
would be willing to think of her as a daughterinlaw«
Wakem was silent a little while pausing before Maggies picture
»Shes not the sort of woman your mother was though Phil« he said at
last »I saw her at church shes handsomer than this deuced fine eyes and
fine figure I saw but rather dangerous and unmanageable eh«
»Shes very tender and affectionate and so simple without the airs and
petty contrivances other women have«
»Ah« said Wakem Then looking round at his son »But your mother looked
gentler she had that brown wavy hair and grey eyes like yours You cant
remember her very well It was a thousand pities Id no likeness of her«
»Then shouldnt you be glad for me to have the same sort of happiness
father to sweeten my life for me There can never be another tie so strong to
you as that which began eightandtwenty years ago when you married my mother
and you have been tightening it ever since«
»Ah Phil youre the only fellow that knows the best of me« said Wakem
giving his hand to his son »We must keep together if we can And now what am I
to do You must come downstairs and tell me Am I to go and call on this
darkeyed damsel«
The barrier once thrown down in this way Philip could talk freely to his
father of their entire relation with the Tullivers of the desire to get the
mill and land back into the family and of its transfer to Guest amp Co as
an intermediate step He could venture now to be persuasive and urgent and his
father yielded with more readiness than he had calculated on
»I dont care about the mill« he said at last with a sort of angry
compliance »Ive had an infernal deal of bother lately about the mill Let them
pay me for my improvements thats all But theres one thing you neednt ask
me I shall have no direct transactions with young Tulliver If you like to
swallow him for his sisters sake you may but Ive no sauce that will make
him go down«
I leave you to imagine the agreeable feelings with which Philip went to Mr
Deane the next day to say that Mr Wakem was ready to open the negotiations
and Lucys pretty triumph as she appealed to her father whether she had not
proved her great business abilities Mr Deane was rather puzzled and suspected
that there had been something »going on« among the young people to which he
wanted a clue But to men of Mr Deanes stamp what goes on among the young
people is as extraneous to the real business of life as what goes on among the
birds and butterflies until it can be shown to have a malign bearing on
monetary affairs And in this case the bearing appeared to be entirely
propitious
Chapter IX
Charity in FullDress
The culmination of Maggies career as an admired member of society in St Oggs
was certainly the day of the bazaar when her simple noble beauty clad in a
white muslin of some softfloating kind which I suspect must have come from the
stores of aunt Pullets wardrobe appeared with marked distinction among the
more adorned and conventional women around her We perhaps never detect how much
of our social demeanour is made up of artificial airs until we see a person who
is at once beautiful and simple without the beauty we are apt to call
simplicity awkwardness The Miss Guests were much too wellbred to have any of
the grimaces and affected tones that belong to pretentious vulgarity but their
stall being next to the one where Maggie sat it seemed newly obvious today
that Miss Guest held her chin too high and that Miss Laura spoke and moved
continually with a view to effect
All welldrest St Oggs and its neighbourhood were there and it would have
been worth while to come even from a distance to see the fine old hall with
its open roof and carved oaken rafters and great oaken foldingdoors and light
shed down from a height on the manycoloured show beneath a very quaint place
with broad faded stripes painted on the walls and here and there a show of
heraldic animals of a bristly longsnouted character the cherished emblems of
a noble family once the seigniors of this now civic hall A grand arch cut in
the upper wall at one end surmounted an oaken orchestra with an open room
behind it where hothouse plants and stalls for refreshments were disposed an
agreeable resort for gentlemen disposed to loiter and yet to exchange the
occasional crush down below for a more commodious point of view In fact the
perfect fitness of this ancient building for an admirable modern purpose that
made charity truly elegant and led through vanity up to the supply of a
deficit was so striking that hardly a person entered the room without
exchanging the remark more than once Near the great arch over the orchestra was
the stone oriel with painted glass which was one of the venerable
inconsistencies of the old hall and it was close by this that Lucy had her
stall for the convenience of certain large plain articles which she had taken
charge of for Mrs Kenn Maggie had begged to sit at the open end of the stall
and to have the sale of these articles rather than of beadmats and other
elaborate products of which she had but a dim understanding But it soon
appeared that the gentlemens dressinggowns which were among her commodities
were objects of such general attention and inquiry and excited so troublesome a
curiosity as to their lining and comparative merits together with a
determination to test them by trying on as to make her post a very conspicuous
one The ladies who had commodities of their own to sell and did not want
dressinggowns saw at once the frivolity and bad taste of this masculine
preference for goods which any tailor could furnish and it is possible that the
emphatic notice of various kinds which was drawn towards Miss Tulliver on this
public occasion threw a very strong and unmistakeable light on her subsequent
conduct in many minds then present Not that anger on account of spurned
beauty can dwell in the celestial breasts of charitable ladies but rather
that the errors of persons who have once been much admired necessarily take a
deeper tinge from the mere force of contrast and also that today Maggies
conspicuous position for the first time made evident certain characteristics
which were subsequently felt to have an explanatory bearing There was something
rather bold in Miss Tullivers direct gaze and something undefinably coarse in
the style of her beauty which placed her in the opinion of all feminine
judges far below her cousin Miss Deane for the ladies of St Oggs had now
completely ceded to Lucy their hypothetic claims on the admiration of Mr
Stephen Guest
As for dear little Lucy herself her late benevolent triumph about the Mill
and all the affectionate projects she was cherishing for Maggie and Philip
helped to give her the highest spirits today and she felt nothing but pleasure
in the evidence of Maggies attractiveness It is true she was looking very
charming herself and Stephen was paying her the utmost attention on this public
occasion jealously buying up the articles he had seen under her fingers in the
process of making and gaily helping her to cajole the male customers into the
purchase of the most effeminate futilities He chose to lay aside his hat and
wear a scarlet fez of her embroidering but by superficial observers this was
necessarily liable to be interpreted less as a compliment to Lucy than as a mark
of coxcombry »Guest is a great coxcomb« young Torry observed »but then he is
a privileged person in St Oggs he carries all before him if another fellow
did such things everybody would say he made a fool of himself«
And Stephen purchased absolutely nothing from Maggie until Lucy said in
rather a vexed undertone
»See now all the things of Maggies knitting will be gone and you will
not have bought one There are those deliciously soft warm things for the wrists
do buy them«
»Oh no« said Stephen »they must be intended for imaginative persons who
can chill themselves on this warm day by thinking of the frosty Caucasus Stern
reason is my forte you know You must get Philip to buy those By the way why
doesnt he come«
»He never likes going where there are many people though I enjoined him to
come He said he would buy up any of my goods that the rest of the world
rejected But now do go and buy something of Maggie«
»No no see she has got a customer there is old Wakem himself just
coming up«
Lucys eyes turned with anxious interest towards Maggie to see how she went
through this first interview since a sadly memorable time with a man towards
whom she must have so strange a mixture of feelings but she was pleased to
notice that Wakem had tact enough to enter at once into talk about the bazaar
wares and appear interested in purchasing smiling now and then kindly at
Maggie and not calling on her to speak much as if he observed that she was
rather pale and tremulous
»Why Wakem is making himself particularly amiable to your cousin« said
Stephen in an undertone to Lucy »is it pure magnanimity you talked of a
family quarrel«
»O that will soon be quite healed I hope« said Lucy becoming a little
indiscreet in her satisfaction and speaking with an air of significance But
Stephen did not appear to notice this and as some ladypurchasers came up he
lounged on towards Maggies end handling trifles and standing aloof until
Wakem who had taken out his purse had finished his transactions
»My son came with me« he overheard Wakem saying »but he has vanished into
some other part of the building and has left all these charitable gallantries
to me I hope youll reproach him for his shabby conduct«
She returned his smile and bow without speaking and he turned away only
then observing Stephen and nodding to him Maggie conscious that Stephen was
still there busied herself with counting money and avoided looking up She had
been well pleased that he had devoted himself to Lucy today and had not come
near her They had begun the morning with an indifferent salutation and both
had rejoiced in being aloof from each other like a patient who has actually
done without his opium in spite of former failures in resolution And during
the last few days they had even been making up their minds to failures looking
to the outward events that must soon come to separate them as a reason for
dispensing with selfconquest in detail
Stephen moved step by step as if he were being unwillingly dragged until he
had got round the open end of the stall and was half hidden by a screen of
draperies Maggie went on counting her money till she suddenly heard a deep
gentle voice saying »Arent you very tired Do let me bring you something
some fruit or jelly maynt I«
The unexpected tones shook her like a sudden accidental vibration of a harp
close by her
»O no thank you« she said faintly and only halflooking up for an
instant
»You look so pale« Stephen insisted in a more entreating tone »Im sure
youre exhausted I must disobey you and bring something«
»No indeed I couldnt take it«
»Are you angry with me What have I done Do look at me«
»Pray go away« said Maggie looking at him helplessly her eyes glancing
immediately from him to the opposite corner of the orchestra which was half
hidden by the folds of the old faded green curtain Maggie had no sooner uttered
this entreaty than she was wretched at the admission it implied but Stephen
turned away at once and following her upward glance he saw Philip Wakem
seated in the halfhidden corner so that he could command little more than that
angle of the hall in which Maggie sat An entirely new thought occurred to
Stephen and linking itself with what he had observed of Wakems manner and
with Lucys reply to his observation it convinced him that there had been some
former relation between Philip and Maggie beyond that childish one of which he
had heard More than one impulse made him immediately leave the hall and go
upstairs to the refreshmentroom where walking up to Philip he sat down
behind him and put his hand on his shoulder
»Are you studying for a portrait Phil« he said »or for a sketch of that
oriel window By George it makes a capital bit from this dark corner with the
curtain just marking it off«
»I have been studying expression« said Philip curtly
»What Miss Tullivers Its rather of the savagemoody order today I
think something of the fallen princess serving behind a counter Her cousin
sent me to her with a civil offer to get her some refreshment but I have been
snubbed as usual Theres a natural antipathy between us I suppose I have
seldom the honour to please her«
»What a hypocrite you are« said Philip flushing angrily
»What because experience must have told me that Im universally pleasing I
admit the law but theres some disturbing force here«
»I am going« said Philip rising abruptly
»So am I to get a breath of fresh air this place gets oppressive I think
I have done suit and service long enough«
The two friends walked downstairs together without speaking Philip turned
through the outer door into the courtyard but Stephen saying »O by the by I
must call in here« went on along the passage to one of the rooms at the other
end of the building which were appropriated to the town library He had the
room all to himself and a man requires nothing less than this when he wants to
dash his cap on the table throw himself astride a chair and stare at a high
brick wall with a frown which would not have been beneath the occasion if he had
been slaying »the giant Python« The conduct that issues from a moral conflict
has often so close a resemblance to vice that the distinction escapes all
outward judgments founded on a mere comparison of actions It is clear to you
I hope that Stephen was not a hypocrite capable of deliberate doubleness for
a selfish end and yet his fluctuations between the indulgence of a feeling and
the systematic concealment of it might have made a good case in support of
Philips accusation
Meanwhile Maggie sat at her stall cold and trembling with that painful
sensation in the eyes which comes from resolutely repressed tears Was her life
to be always like this always bringing some new source of inward strife She
heard confusedly the busy indifferent voices around her and wished her mind
could flow into that easy babbling current It was at this moment that Dr Kenn
who had quite lately come into the hall and was now walking down the middle
with his hands behind him taking a general view fixed his eyes on Maggie for
the first time and was struck with the expression of pain on her beautiful
face She was sitting quite still for the stream of customers had lessened at
this late hour in the afternoon the gentlemen had chiefly chosen the middle of
the day and Maggies stall was looking rather bare This with her absent
pained expression finished the contrast between her and her companions who
were all bright eager and busy He was strongly arrested Her face had
naturally drawn his attention as a new and striking one at church and he had
been introduced to her during a short call on business at Mr Deanes but he
had never spoken more than three words to her He walked towards her now and
Maggie perceiving some one approaching roused herself to look up and be
prepared to speak She felt a childlike instinctive relief from the sense of
uneasiness in this exertion when she saw it was Dr Kenns face that was looking
at her that plain middleaged face with a grave penetrating kindness in it
seeming to tell of a human being who had reached a firm safe strand but was
looking with helpful pity towards the strugglers still tossed by the waves had
an effect on Maggie at this moment which was afterwards remembered by her as if
it had been a promise The middleaged who have lived through their strongest
emotions but are yet in the time when memory is still half passionate and not
merely contemplative should surely be a sort of natural priesthood whom life
has disciplined and consecrated to be the refuge and rescue of early stumblers
and victims of selfdespair Most of us at some moment in our young lives
would have welcomed a priest of that natural order in any sort of canonicals or
uncanonicals but had to scramble upwards into all the difficulties of nineteen
entirely without such aid as Maggie did
»You find your office rather a fatiguing one I fear Miss Tulliver« said
Dr Kenn
»It is rather« said Maggie simply not being accustomed to simper amiable
denials of obvious facts
»But I can tell Mrs Kenn that you have disposed of her goods very quickly«
he added »she will be very much obliged to you«
»O I have done nothing the gentlemen came very fast to buy the
dressinggowns and embroidered waistcoats but I think any of the other ladies
would have sold more I didnt know what to say about them«
Dr Kenn smiled »I hope Im going to have you as a permanent parishioner
now Miss Tulliver am I You have been at a distance from us hitherto«
»I have been a teacher in a school and Im going into another situation of
the same kind very soon«
»Ah I was hoping you would remain among your friends who are all in this
neighbourhood I believe«
»O I must go« said Maggie earnestly looking at Dr Kenn with an
expression of reliance as if she had told him her history in those three words
It was one of those moments of implicit revelation which will sometimes happen
even between people who meet quite transiently on a miles journey perhaps
or when resting by the wayside There is always this possibility of a word or
look from a stranger to keep alive the sense of human brotherhood
Dr Kenns ear and eye took in all the signs that this brief confidence of
Maggies was charged with meaning
»I understand« he said »you feel it right to go But that will not prevent
our meeting again I hope it will not prevent my knowing you better if I can
be of any service to you«
He put out his hand and pressed hers kindly before he turned away
»She has some trouble or other at heart« he thought »Poor child she looks
as if she might turn out to be one of
The souls by nature pitched too high
By suffering plunged too low
Theres something wonderfully honest in those beautiful eyes«
It may be surprising that Maggie among whose many imperfections an
excessive delight in admiration and acknowledged supremacy were not absent now
any more than when she was instructing the gypsies with a view towards achieving
a royal position among them was not more elated on a day when she had had the
tribute of so many looks and smiles together with that satisfactory
consciousness which had necessarily come from being taken before Lucys
chevalglass and made to look at the full length of her tall beauty crowned by
the night of her massy hair Maggie had smiled at herself then and for the
moment had forgotten everything in the sense of her own beauty If that state of
mind could have lasted her choice would have been to have Stephen Guest at her
feet offering her a life filled with all luxuries with daily incense of
adoration near and distant and with all possibilities of culture at her
command But there were things in her stronger than vanity passion and
affection and long deep memories of early discipline and effort of early
claims on her love and pity and the stream of vanity was soon swept along and
mingled inperceptibly with that wider current which was at its highest force
today under the double urgency of the events and inward impulses brought by
the last week
Philip had not spoken to her himself about the removal of obstacles between
them on his fathers side he shrank from that but he had told everything to
Lucy with the hope that Maggie being informed through her might give him some
encouraging sign that their being brought thus much nearer to each other was a
happiness to her The rush of conflicting feelings was too great for Maggie to
say much when Lucy with a face breathing playful joy like one of Correggios
cherubs poured forth her triumphant revelation and Lucy could hardly be
surprised that she could do little more than cry with gladness at the thought of
her fathers wish being fulfilled and of Toms getting the Mill again in reward
for all his hard striving The details of preparation for the bazaar had then
come to usurp Lucys attention for the next few days and nothing had been said
by the cousins on subjects that were likely to rouse deeper feelings Philip had
been to the house more than once but Maggie had had no private conversation
with him and thus she had been left to fight her inward battle without
interference
But when the bazaar was fairly ended and the cousins were alone again
resting together at home Lucy said
»You must give up going to stay with your aunt Moss the day after tomorrow
Maggie write a note to her and tell her you have put it off at my request and
Ill send the man with it She wont be displeased youll have plenty of time
to go byandby and I dont want you to go out of the way just now«
»Yes indeed I must go dear I cant put it off I wouldnt leave aunt
Gritty out for the world And I shall have very little time for Im going away
to a new situation on the 25th of June«
»Maggie« said Lucy almost white with astonishment
»I didnt tell you dear« said Maggie making a great effort to command
herself »because youve been so busy But some time ago I wrote to our old
governess Miss Firniss to ask her to let me know if she met with any situation
that I could fill and the other day I had a letter from her telling me that I
could take three orphan pupils of hers to the coast during the holidays and
then make trial of a situation with her as teacher I wrote yesterday to accept
the offer«
Lucy felt so hurt that for some moments she was unable to speak
»Maggie« she said at last »how could you be so unkind to me not to tell
me to take such a step and now« She hesitated a little and then added
»And Philip I thought everything was going to be so happy O Maggie what is
the reason Give it up let me write There is nothing now to keep you and
Philip apart«
»Yes« said Maggie faintly »There is Toms feeling He said I must give
him up if I married Philip And I know he would not change at least not for a
long while unless something happened to soften him«
»But I will talk to him hes coming back this week And this good news
about the Mill will soften him And Ill talk to him about Philip Toms always
very compliant to me I dont think hes so obstinate«
»But I must go« said Maggie in a distressed voice »I must leave some time
to pass Dont press me to stay dear Lucy«
Lucy was silent for two or three minutes looking away and ruminating At
length she knelt down by her cousin and looking up in her face with anxious
seriousness said
»Maggie is it that you dont love Philip well enough to marry him tell
me trust me«
Maggie held Lucys hands tightly in silence a little while Her own hands
were quite cold But when she spoke her voice was quite clear and distinct
»Yes Lucy I would choose to marry him I think it would be the best and
highest lot for me to make his life happy He loved me first No one else
could be quite what he is to me But I cant divide myself from my brother for
life I must go away and wait Pray dont speak to me again about it«
Lucy obeyed in pain and wonder The next word she said was
»Well dear Maggie at least you will go to the dance at Park House
tomorrow and have some music and brightness before you go to pay these dull
dutiful visits Ah here come aunty and the tea«
Chapter X
The Spell Seems Broken
The suite of rooms opening into each other at Park House looked duly brilliant
with lights and flowers and the personal splendours of sixteen couples with
attendant parents and guardians The focus of brilliancy was the long
drawingroom where the dancing went forward under the inspiration of the grand
piano the library into which it opened at one end had the more sober
illumination of maturity with caps and cards and at the other end the pretty
sittingroom with a conservatory attached was left as an occasional cool
retreat Lucy who had laid aside her black for the first time and had her
pretty slimness set off by an abundant dress of white crape was the
acknowledged queen of the occasion for this was one of the Miss Guests
thoroughly condescending parties including no member of any aristocracy higher
than that of St Oggs and stretching to the extreme limits of commercial and
professional gentility
Maggie at first refused to dance saying that she had forgotten all the
figures it was so many years since she had danced at school and she was glad
to have that excuse for it is ill dancing with a heavy heart But at length the
music wrought in her young limbs and the longing came even though it was the
horrible young Torry who walked up a second time to try and persuade her She
warned him that she could not dance anything but a countrydance but he of
course was willing to wait for that high felicity meaning only to be
complimentary when he assured her at several intervals that it was a »great
bore« that she couldnt waltz he would have liked so much to waltz with her
But at last it was the turn of the good oldfashioned dance which has the least
of vanity and the most of merriment in it and Maggie quite forgot her troublous
life in a childlike enjoyment of that halfrustic rhythm which seems to banish
pretentious etiquette She felt quite charitably towards young Torry as his
hand bore her along and held her up in the dance her eyes and cheeks had that
fire of young joy in them which will flame out if it can find the least breath
to fan it and her simple black dress with its bit of black lace seemed like
the dim setting of a jewel
Stephen had not yet asked her to dance had not yet paid her more than a
passing civility Since yesterday that inward vision of her which perpetually
made part of his consciousness had been halfscreened by the image of Philip
Wakem which came across it like a blot there was some attachment between her
and Philip at least there was an attachment on his side which made her feel in
some bondage Here then Stephen told himself was another claim of honour which
called on him to resist the attraction that was continually threatening to
overpower him He told himself so and yet he had once or twice felt a certain
savage resistance and at another moment a shuddering repugnance to this
intrusion of Philips image which almost made it a new incitement to rush
towards Maggie and claim her for himself Nevertheless he had done what he meant
to do this evening he had kept aloof from her he had hardly looked at her and
he had been gaily assiduous to Lucy But now his eyes were devouring Maggie he
felt inclined to kick young Torry out of the dance and take his place Then he
wanted the dance to end that he might get rid of his partner The possibility
that he too should dance with Maggie and have her hand in his so long was
beginning to possess him like a thirst But even now their hands were meeting in
the dance were meeting still to the very end of it though they were far off
each other
Stephen hardly knew what happened or in what automatic way he got through
the duties of politeness in the interval until he was free and saw Maggie
seated alone again at the farther end of the room He made his way towards her
round the couples that were forming for the waltz and when Maggie became
conscious that she was the person he sought she felt in spite of all the
thoughts that had gone before a glowing gladness at heart Her eyes and cheeks
were still brightened with her childlike enthusiasm in the dance her whole
frame was set to joy and tenderness even the coming pain could not seem bitter
she was ready to welcome it as a part of life for life at this moment seemed
a keen vibrating consciousness poised above pleasure or pain This one this
last night she might expand unrestrainedly in the warmth of the present
without those chill eating thoughts of the past and the future
»Theyre going to waltz again« said Stephen bending to speak to her with
that glance and tone of subdued tenderness which young dreams create to
themselves in the summer woods when low cooing voices fill the air Such glances
and tones bring the breath of poetry with them into a room that is halfstifling
with glaring gas and hard flirtation
»They are going to waltz again it is rather dizzy work to look on and the
room is very warm Shall we walk about a little«
He took her hand and placed it within his arm and they walked on into the
sittingroom where the tables were strewn with engravings for the accommodation
of visitors who would not want to look at them But no visitors were here at
this moment They passed on into the conservatory
»How strange and unreal the trees and flowers look with the lights among
them« said Maggie in a low voice »They look as if they belonged to an
enchanted land and would never fade away I could fancy they were all made of
jewels«
She was looking at the tier of geraniums as she spoke and Stephen made no
answer but he was looking at her and does not a supreme poet blend light and
sound into one calling darkness mute and light eloquent Something strangely
powerful there was in the light of Stephens long gaze for it made Maggies
face turn towards it and look upward at it slowly like a flower at the
ascending brightness And they walked unsteadily on without feeling that they
were walking without feeling anything but that long grave mutual gaze which
has the solemnity belonging to all deep human passion The hovering thought that
they must and would renounce each other made this moment of mute confession more
intense in its rapture
But they had reached the end of the conservatory and were obliged to pause
and turn The change of movement brought a new consciousness to Maggie she
blushed deeply turned away her head and drew her arm from Stephens going up
to some flowers to smell them Stephen stood motionless and still pale
»O may I get this rose« said Maggie making a great effort to say
something and dissipate the burning sense of irretrievable confession »I think
I am quite wicked with roses I like to gather them and smell them till they
have no scent left«
Stephen was mute he was incapable of putting a sentence together and
Maggie bent her arm a little upward towards the large halfopened rose that had
attracted her Who has not felt the beauty of a womans arm the unspeakable
suggestions of tenderness that lie in the dimpled elbow and all the varied
gentlylessening curves down to the delicate wrist with its tiniest almost
imperceptible nicks in the firm softness A womans arm touched the soul of a
great sculptor two thousand years ago so that he wrought an image of it for the
Parthenon which moves us still as it clasps lovingly the timeworn marble of a
headless trunk Maggies was such an arm as that and it had the warm tints of
life
A mad impulse seized on Stephen he darted towards the arm and showered
kisses on it clasping the wrist
But the next moment Maggie snatched it from him and glared at him like a
wounded wargoddess quivering with rage and humiliation
»How dare you« she spoke in a deeplyshaken halfsmothered voice »What
right have I given you to insult me«
She darted from him into the adjoining room and threw herself on the sofa
panting and trembling
A horrible punishment was come upon her for the sin of allowing a moments
happiness that was treachery to Lucy to Philip to her own better soul That
momentary happiness had been smitten with a blight a leprosy Stephen thought
more lightly of her than he did of Lucy
As for Stephen he leaned back against the framework of the conservatory
dizzy with the conflict of passions love rage and confused despair despair
at his want of selfmastery and despair that he had offended Maggie
The last feeling surmounted every other to be by her side again and entreat
forgiveness was the only thing that had the force of a motive for him and she
had not been seated more than a few minutes when he came and stood humbly before
her But Maggies bitter rage was unspent
»Leave me to myself if you please« she said with impetuous haughtiness
»and for the future avoid me«
Stephen turned away and walked backwards and forwards at the other end of
the room There was the dire necessity of going back into the dancingroom
again and he was beginning to be conscious of that They had been absent so
short a time that when he went in again the waltz was not ended
Maggie too was not long before she reentered All the pride of her nature
was stung into activity the hateful weakness which had dragged her within reach
of this wound to her selfrespect had at least wrought its own cure The
thoughts and temptations of the last month should all be flung away into an
unvisited chamber of memory there was nothing to allure her now duty would be
easy and all the old calm purposes would reign peacefully once more She
reentered the drawingroom still with some excited brightness in her face but
with a sense of proud selfcommand that defied anything to agitate her She
refused to dance again but she talked quite readily and calmly with every one
who addressed her And when they got home that night she kissed Lucy with a
free heart almost exulting in this scorching moment which had delivered her
from the possibility of another word or look that would have the stamp of
treachery towards that gentle unsuspicious sister
The next morning Maggie did not set off to Basset quite so soon as she had
expected Her mother was to accompany her in the carriage and household
business could not be despatched hastily by Mrs Tulliver So Maggie who had
been in a hurry to prepare herself had to sit waiting equipped for the drive
in the garden Lucy was busy in the house wrapping up some bazaar presents for
the younger ones at Basset and when there was a loud ring at the doorbell
Maggie felt some alarm lest Lucy should bring out Stephen to her it was sure to
be Stephen
But presently the visitor came out into the garden alone and seated himself
by her on the gardenchair It was not Stephen
»We can just catch the tips of the Scotch firs Maggie from this seat«
said Philip
They had taken each others hands in silence but Maggie had looked at him
with a more complete revival of the old childlike affectionate smile than he had
seen before and he felt encouraged
»Yes« she said »I often look at them and wish I could see the low
sunlight on the stems again But I have never been that way but once to the
churchyard with my mother«
»I have been there I go there continually« said Philip »I have nothing
but the past to live upon«
A keen remembrance and keen pity impelled Maggie to put her hand in
Philips They had so often walked handinhand
»I remember all the spots« she said »just where you told me of particular
things beautiful stories that I had never heard of before«
»You will go there again soon wont you Maggie« said Philip getting
timid »The Mill will soon be your brothers home again«
»Yes but I shall not be there« said Maggie »I shall only hear of that
happiness I am going away again Lucy has not told you perhaps«
»Then the future will never join on to the past again Maggie That book is
quite closed«
The grey eyes that had so often looked up at her with entreating worship
looked up at her now with a last struggling ray of hope in them and Maggie met
them with her large sincere gaze
»That book never will be closed Philip« she said with grave sadness »I
desire no future that will break the ties of the past But the tie to my brother
is one of the strongest I can do nothing willingly that will divide me always
from him«
»Is that the only reason that would keep us apart for ever Maggie« said
Philip with a desperate determination to have a definite answer
»The only reason« said Maggie with calm decision And she believed it At
that moment she felt as if the enchanted cup had been dashed to the ground The
reactionary excitement that gave her a proud selfmastery had not subsided and
she looked at the future with a sense of calm choice
They sat handinhand without looking at each other or speaking for a few
minutes in Maggies mind the first scenes of love and parting were more present
than the actual moment and she was looking at Philip in the Red Deeps
Philip felt that he ought to have been thoroughly happy in that answer of
hers she was as open and transparent as a rockpool Why was he not thoroughly
happy Jealousy is never satisfied with anything short of an omniscience that
would detect the subtlest fold of the heart
Chapter XI
In the Lane
Maggie had been four days at her aunt Mosss giving the early June sunshine
quite a new brightness in the caredimmed eyes of that affectionate woman and
making an epoch for her cousins great and small who were learning her words and
actions by heart as if she had been a transient avatar of perfect wisdom and
beauty
She was standing on the causeway with her aunt and a group of cousins
feeding the chickens at that quiet moment in the life of the farmyard before
the afternoon milkingtime The great buildings round the hollow yard were as
dreary and tumbledown as ever but over the old gardenwall the straggling
rosebushes were beginning to toss their summer weight and the grey wood and
old bricks of the house on its higher level had a look of sleepy age in the
broad afternoon sunlight that suited the quiescent time Maggie with her
bonnet over her arm was smiling down at the hatch of small fluffy chickens
when her aunt exclaimed
»Goodness me who is that gentleman coming in at the gate«
It was a gentleman on a tall bay horse and the flanks and neck of the horse
were streaked black with fast riding Maggie felt a beating at head and heart
horrible as the sudden leaping to life of a savage enemy who had feigned death
»Who is it my dear« said Mrs Moss seeing in Maggies face the evidence
that she knew
»It is Mr Stephen Guest« said Maggie rather faintly »My cousin Lucys
a gentleman who is very intimate at my cousins«
Stephen was already close to them had jumped off his horse and now raised
his hat as he advanced
»Hold the horse Willy« said Mrs Moss to the twelveyearold boy
»No thank you« said Stephen pulling at the horses impatiently tossing
head »I must be going again immediately I have a message to deliver to you
Miss Tulliver on private business May I take the liberty of asking you to
walk a few yards with me«
He had a halfjaded halfirritated look such as a man gets when he has
been dogged by some care or annoyance that makes his bed and his dinner of
little use to him He spoke almost abruptly as if his errand were too pressing
for him to trouble himself about what would be thought by Mrs Moss of his visit
and request Good Mrs Moss rather nervous in the presence of this apparently
haughty gentleman was inwardly wondering whether she would be doing right or
wrong to invite him again to leave his horse and walk in when Maggie feeling
all the embarrassment of the situation and unable to say anything put on her
bonnet and turned to walk towards the gate
Stephen turned too and walked by her side leading his horse
Not a word was spoken till they were out in the lane and had walked four or
five yards when Maggie who had been looking straight before her all the while
turned again to walk back saying with haughty resentment
»There is no need for me to go any farther I dont know whether you
consider it gentlemanly and delicate conduct to place me in a position that
forced me to come out with you or whether you wished to insult me still
further by thrusting an interview upon me in this way«
»Of course you are angry with me for coming« said Stephen bitterly »Of
course it is of no consequence what a man has to suffer it is only your
womans dignity that you care about«
Maggie gave a slight start such as might have come from the slightest
possible electric shock
»As if it were not enough that Im entangled in this way that Im mad with
love for you that I resist the strongest passion a man can feel because I try
to be true to other claims but you must treat me as if I were a coarse brute
who would willingly offend you And when if I had my own choice I should ask
you to take my hand and my fortune and my whole life and do what you liked
with them I know I forgot myself I took an unwarrantable liberty I hate
myself for having done it But I repented immediately Ive been repenting ever
since You ought not to think it unpardonable a man who loves with his whole
soul as I do you is liable to be mastered by his feelings for a moment but
you know you must believe that the worst pain I could have is to have pained
you that I would give the world to recall the error«
Maggie dared not speak dared not turn her head The strength that had come
from resentment was all gone and her lips were quivering visibly She could not
trust herself to utter the full forgiveness that rose in answer to that
confession
They were come nearly in front of the gate again and she paused trembling
»You must not say these things I must not hear them« she said looking
down in misery as Stephen came in front of her to prevent her from going
farther towards the gate »Im very sorry for any pain you have to go through
but it is of no use to speak«
»Yes it is of use« said Stephen impetuously »It would be of use if you
would treat me with some sort of pity and consideration instead of doing me
vile injustice in your mind I could bear everything more quietly if I knew you
didnt hate me for an insolent coxcomb Look at me see what a hunted devil I
am Ive been riding thirty miles every day to get away from the thought of
you«
Maggie did not dared not look She had already seen the harassed face But
she said gently
»I dont think any evil of you«
»Then dearest look at me« said Stephen in deepest tenderest tones of
entreaty »Dont go away from me yet Give me a moments happiness make me
feel youve forgiven me«
»Yes I do forgive you« said Maggie shaken by those tones and all the
more frightened at herself »But pray let me go in again Pray go away«
A great tear fell from under her lowered eyelids
»I cant go away from you I cant leave you« said Stephen with still
more passionate pleading »I shall come back again if you send me away with this
coldness I cant answer for myself But if you will go with me only a little
way I can live on that You see plainly enough that your anger has only made me
ten times more unreasonable«
Maggie turned But Tancred the bay horse began to make such spirited
remonstrances against this frequent change of direction that Stephen catching
sight of Willy Moss peeping through the gate called out »Here just come and
hold my horse for five minutes«
»O no« said Maggie hurriedly »my aunt will think it so strange«
»Never mind« Stephen answered impatiently »they dont know the people at
St Oggs Lead him up and down just here for five minutes« he added to Willy
who was now close to them and then he turned to Maggies side and they walked
on It was clear that she must go on now
»Take my arm« said Stephen entreatingly and she took it feeling all the
while as if she were sliding downwards in a nightmare
»There is no end to this misery« she began struggling to repel the
influence by speech »It is wicked base ever allowing a word or look that
Lucy that others might not have seen Think of Lucy«
»I do think of her bless her If I didnt « Stephen had laid his hand on
Maggies that rested on his arm and they both felt it difficult to speak
»And I have other ties« Maggie went on at last with a desperate effort
»even if Lucy did not exist«
»You are engaged to Philip Wakem« said Stephen hastily »Is it so«
»I consider myself engaged to him I dont mean to marry any one else«
Stephen was silent again until they had turned out of the sun into a side
line all grassy and sheltered Then he burst out impetuously
»It is unnatural it is horrible Maggie if you loved me as I love you we
should throw everything else to the winds for the sake of belonging to each
other We should break all these mistaken ties that were made in blindness and
determine to marry each other«
»I would rather die than fall into that temptation« said Maggie with deep
slow distinctness all the gathered spiritual force of painful years coming to
her aid in this extremity She drew her arm from his as she spoke
»Tell me then that you dont care for me« he said almost violently
»Tell me that you love some one else better«
It darted through Maggies mind that here was a mode of releasing herself
from outward struggle to tell Stephen that her whole heart was Philips But
her lips would not utter that and she was silent
»If you do love me dearest« said Stephen gently taking up her hand again
and laying it within his arm »it is better it is right that we should marry
each other We cant help the pain it will give It is come upon us without our
seeking it is natural it has taken hold of me in spite of every effort I have
made to resist it God knows Ive been trying to be faithful to tacit
engagements and Ive only made things worse Id better have given way at
first«
Maggie was silent If it were not wrong if she were once convinced of
that and need no longer beat and struggle against this current soft and yet
strong as the summer stream
»Say yes dearest« said Stephen leaning to look entreatingly in her face
»What could we care about in the whole world beside if we belonged to each
other«
Her breath was on his face his lips were very near hers but there was a
great dread dwelling in his love for her
Her lips and eyelids quivered she opened her eyes full on his for an
instant like a lovely wild animal timid and struggling under caresses and then
turned sharp round towards home again
»And after all« he went on in an impatient tone trying to defeat his own
scruples as well as hers »I am breaking no positive engagement if Lucys
affections had been withdrawn from me and given to some one else I should have
felt no right to assert a claim on her If you are not absolutely pledged to
Philip we are neither of us bound«
»You dont believe that it is not your real feeling« said Maggie
earnestly »You feel as I do that the real tie lies in the feelings and
expectations we have raised in other minds Else all pledges might be broken
when there was no outward penalty There would be no such thing as
faithfulness«
Stephen was silent he could not pursue that argument the opposite
conviction had wrought in him too strongly through his previous time of
struggle But it soon presented itself in a new form
»The pledge cant be fulfilled« he said with impetuous insistance »It is
unnatural we can only pretend to give ourselves to any one else There is wrong
in that too there may be misery in it for them as well as for us Maggie you
must see that you do see that«
He was looking eagerly at her face for the least sign of compliance his
large firm gentle grasp was on her hand She was silent for a few moments
with her eyes fixed on the ground then she drew a deep breath and said
looking up at him with solemn sadness
»O it is difficult life is very difficult It seems right to me sometimes
that we should follow our strongest feeling but then such feelings
continually come across the ties that all our former life has made for us the
ties that have made others dependent on us and would cut them in two If life
were quite easy and simple as it might have been in paradise and we could
always see that one being first towards whom I mean if life did not make
duties for us before love comes love would be a sign that two people ought to
belong to each other But I see I feel it is not so now there are things we
must renounce in life some of us must resign love Many things are difficult
and dark to me but I see one thing quite clearly that I must not cannot
seek my own happiness by sacrificing others Love is natural but surely pity
and faithfulness and memory are natural too And they would live in me still
and punish me if I did not obey them I should be haunted by the suffering I had
caused Our love would be poisoned Dont urge me help me help me because I
love you«
Maggie had become more and more earnest as she went on her face had become
flushed and her eyes fuller and fuller of appealing love Stephen had the fibre
of nobleness in him that vibrated to her appeal but in the same moment how
could it be otherwise that pleading beauty gained new power over him
»Dearest« he said in scarcely more than a whisper while his arm stole
round her »Ill do Ill bear anything you wish But one kiss one the
last before we part«
One kiss and then a long look until Maggie said tremulously »Let me go
let us make haste back«
She hurried along and not another word was spoken Stephen stood still and
beckoned when they came within sight of Willy and the horse and Maggie went on
through the gate Mrs Moss was standing alone at the door of the old porch she
had sent all the cousins in with kind thoughtfulness It might be a joyful
thing that Maggie had a rich and handsome lover but she would naturally feel
embarrassed at coming in again and it might not be joyful In either case
Mrs Moss waited anxiously to receive Maggie by herself The speaking face told
plainly enough that if there was joy it was of a very agitating dubious sort
»Sit down here a bit my dear« She drew Maggie into the porch and sat down
on the bench by her there was no privacy in the house
»O aunt Gritty Im very wretched I wish I could have died when I was
fifteen It seemed so easy to give things up then it is so hard now«
The poor child threw her arms round her aunts neck and fell into long
deep sobs
Chapter XII
A Family Party
Maggie left her good aunt Gritty at the end of the week and went to Garum Firs
to pay her visit to aunt Pullet according to agreement In the mean time very
unexpected things had happened and there was to be a family party at Garum to
discuss and celebrate a change in the fortunes of the Tullivers which was
likely finally to carry away the shadow of their demerits like the last limb of
an eclipse and cause their hitherto obscured virtues to shine forth in
fullrounded splendour It is pleasant to know that a new ministry just come
into office are not the only fellowmen who enjoy a period of high appreciation
and fullblown eulogy in many respectable families throughout this realm
relatives becoming creditable meet with a similar cordiality of recognition
which in its fine freedom from the coercion of any antecedents suggests the
hopeful possibility that we may some day without any notice find ourselves in
full millennium with cockatrices who have ceased to bite and wolves that no
longer show their teeth with any but the blandest intentions
Lucy came so early as to have the start even of aunt Glegg for she longed
to have some undisturbed talk with Maggie about the wonderful news It seemed
did it not said Lucy with her prettiest air of wisdom as if everything even
other peoples misfortunes poor creatures were conspiring now to make poor
dear aunt Tulliver and cousin Tom and naughty Maggie too if she were not
obstinately bent on the contrary as happy as they deserved to be after all
their troubles To think that the very day the very day after Tom had come
back from Newcastle that unfortunate young Jetsome whom Mr Wakem had placed
at the Mill had been pitched off his horse in a drunken fit and was lying at
St Oggs in a dangerous state so that Wakem had signified his wish that the new
purchasers should enter on the premises at once It was very dreadful for that
unhappy young man but it did seem as if the misfortune had happened then
rather than at any other time in order that cousin Tom might all the sooner
have the fit reward of his exemplary conduct papa thought so very highly of
him Aunt Tulliver must certainly go to the Mill now and keep house for Tom
that was rather a loss to Lucy in the matter of household comfort but then to
think of poor aunty being in her old place again and gradually getting comforts
about her there
On this last point Lucy had her cunning projects and when she and Maggie
had made their dangerous way down the bright stairs into the handsome parlour
where the very sunbeams seemed cleaner than elsewhere she directed her
manoeuvres as any other great tactician would have done against the weaker
side of the enemy
»Aunt Pullet« she said seating herself on the sofa and caressingly
adjusting that ladys floating capstring »I want you to make up your mind what
linen and things you will give Tom towards housekeeping because youre always
so generous you give such nice things you know and if you set the example
aunt Glegg will follow«
»That she never can my dear« said Mrs Pullet with unusual vigour »for
she hasnt got the linen to follow suit wi mine I can tell you Shed niver
the taste not if shed spend the money Big checks and live things like stags
and foxes all her tablelinen is not a spot nor a diamont among em But its
poor work dividing ones linen before one dies I niver thought to ha done
that Bessy« Mrs Pullet continued shaking her head and looking at her sister
Tulliver »when you and me chose the double diamont the first flax iver wed
spun and the Lord knows where yours is gone«
»Id no choice Im sure sister« said poor Mrs Tulliver accustomed to
consider herself in the light of an accused person »Im sure it was no wish o
mine iver as I should lie awake o nights thinking o my best bleached linen
all over the country«
»Take a peppermint Mrs Tulliver« said uncle Pullet feeling that he was
offering a cheap and wholesome form of comfort which he was recommending by
example
»O but aunt Pullet« said Lucy »youve so much beautiful linen And
suppose you had had daughters Then you must have divided it when they were
married«
»Well I dont say as I wont do it« said Mrs Pullet »for now Toms so
lucky its nothing but right his friends should look on him and help him
Theres the tablecloths I bought at your sale Bessy it was nothing but good
natur o me to buy em for theyve been lying in the chest ever since But Im
not going to give Maggie any more o my Indy muslin and things if shes to go
into service again when she might stay and keep me company and do my sewing
for me if she wasnt wanted at her brothers«
»Going into service« was the expression by which the Dodson mind
represented to itself the position of teacher or governess and Maggies return
to that menial condition now circumstances offered her more eligible prospects
was likely to be a sore point with all her relatives besides Lucy Maggie in
her crude form with her hair down her back and altogether in a state of
dubious promise was a most undesirable niece but now she was capable of being
at once ornamental and useful The subject was revived in aunt and uncle Gleggs
presence over the tea and muffins
»Hegh hegh« said Mr Glegg goodnaturedly patting Maggie on the back
»nonsense nonsense Dont let us hear of you taking a place again Maggie Why
you must ha picked up halfadozen sweethearts at the bazaar isnt there one
of em the right sort of article Come now«
»Mr Glegg« said his wife with that shade of increased politeness in her
severity which she always put on with her crisper fronts »youll excuse me but
youre far too light for a man of your years Its respect and duty to her
aunts and the rest of her kin as are so good to her should have kept my niece
from fixing about going away again without consulting us not sweethearts if
Im to use such a word though it was never heared in my family«
»Why what did they call us when we went to see em then eh neighbour
Pullet They thought us sweet enough then« said Mr Glegg winking pleasantly
while Mr Pullet at the suggestion of sweetness took a little more sugar
»Mr Glegg« said Mrs G »if youre going to be undelicate let me know«
»La Jane your husbands only joking« said Mrs Pullet »let him joke
while hes got health and strength Theres poor Mr Tilt got his mouth drawn
all o one side and couldnt laugh if he was to try«
»Ill trouble you for the muffineer then Mr Glegg« said Mrs G »if I
may be so bold to interrupt your joking Though its other people must see the
joke in a nieces putting a slight on her mothers eldest sister as is the head
o the family and only coming in and out on short visits all the time shes
been in the town and then settling to go away without my knowledge as Id
laid caps out on purpose for her to make em up for me and me as have divided
my money so equal «
»Sister« Mrs Tulliver broke in anxiously »Im sure Maggie never thought
o going away without staying at your house as well as the others Not as its
my wish she should go away at all but quite contrairy Im sure Im innocent
Ive said over and over again My dear youve no call to go away But theres
ten days or a fortnight Maggie ll have before shes fixed to go she can stay
at your house just as well and Ill step in when I can and so will Lucy«
»Bessy« said Mrs Glegg »if youd exercise a little more thought you
might know I should hardly think it was worth while to unpin a bed and go to
all that trouble now just at the end o the time when our house isnt above a
quarter of an hours walk from Mr Deanes She can come the first thing in the
morning and go back the last at night and be thankful shes got a good aunt so
close to her to come and sit with I know I should when I was her age«
»La Jane« said Mrs Pullet »it ud do your beds good to have somebody to
sleep in em Theres that striped room smells dreadful mouldy and the glass
mildewed like anything Im sure I thought I should be struck with death when
you took me in«
»O there is Tom« exclaimed Lucy clapping her hands »Hes come on
Sindbad as I told him I was afraid he was not going to keep his promise«
Maggie jumped up to kiss Tom as he entered with strong feeling at this
first meeting since the prospect of returning to the Mill had been opened to
him and she kept his hand leading him to the chair by her side To have no
cloud between herself and Tom was still a perpetual yearning in her that had
its root deeper than all change He smiled at her very kindly this evening and
said »Well Magsie hows aunt Moss«
»Come come sir« said Mr Glegg putting out his hand »Why youre such a
big man you carry all before you it seems Youre come into your luck a good
deal earlier than us old folks did but I wish you joy I wish you joy Youll
get the Mill all for your own again some day Ill be bound You wont stop
halfway up the hill«
»But I hope hell bear in mind as its his mothers family as he owes it
to« said Mrs Glegg »If he hadnt had them to take after hed ha been poorly
off There was never any failures nor lawing nor wastefulness in our family
nor dying without wills «
»No nor sudden deaths« said aunt Pullet »allays the doctor called in But
Tom had the Dodson skin I said that from the first And I dont know what you
mean to do sister Glegg but I mean to give him a tablecloth of all my three
biggest sizes but one besides sheets I dont say what more I shall do but
that I shall do and if I should die tomorrow Mr Pullet youll bear it in
mind though youll be blundering with the keys and never remember as that on
the third shelf o the lefthand wardrobe behind the nightcaps with the broad
ties not the narrowfrilled uns is the key o the drawer in the Blue Room
where the key o the Blue Closet is Youll make a mistake and I shall niver be
worthy to know it Youve a memory for my pills and draughts wonderful Ill
allays say that of you but youre lost among the keys« This gloomy prospect
of the confusion that would ensue on her decease was very affecting to Mrs
Pullet
»You carry it too far Sophy that locking in and out« said Mrs Glegg in
a tone of some disgust at this folly »You go beyond your own family Theres
nobody can say I dont lock up but I do whats reasonable and no more And as
for the linen I shall look out whats serviceable to make a present of to my
nephey Ive got cloth as has never been whittened better worth having than
other peoples fine holland and I hope hell lie down in it and think of his
aunt«
Tom thanked Mrs Glegg but evaded any promise to meditate nightly on her
virtues and Mr Glegg effected a diversion for him by asking about Mr Deanes
intentions concerning steam
Lucy had had her farsighted views in begging Tom to come on Sindbad It
appeared when it was time to go home that the manservant was to ride the
horse and cousin Tom was to drive home his mother and Lucy »You must sit by
yourself aunty« said that contriving young lady »because I must sit by Tom
Ive a great deal to say to him«
In the eagerness of her affectionate anxiety for Maggie Lucy could not
persuade herself to defer a conversation about her with Tom who she thought
with such a cup of joy before him as this rapid fulfilment of his wish about the
Mill must become pliant and flexible Her nature supplied her with no key to
Toms and she was puzzled as well as pained to notice the unpleasant change on
his countenance when she gave him the history of the way in which Philip had
used his influence with his father She had counted on this revelation as a
great stroke of policy which was to turn Toms heart towards Philip at once
and besides that prove that the elder Wakem was ready to receive Maggie with
all the honours of a daughterinlaw Nothing was wanted then but for dear
Tom who always had that pleasant smile when he looked at cousin Lucy to turn
completely round say the opposite of what he had always said before and
declare that he for his part was delighted that all the old grievances should
be healed and that Maggie should have Philip with all suitable despatch in
cousin Lucys opinion nothing could be easier
But to minds strongly marked by the positive and negative qualities that
create severity strength of will conscious rectitude of purpose narrowness
of imagination and intellect great power of selfcontrol and a disposition to
exert control over others prejudices come as the natural food of tendencies
which can get no sustenance out of that complex fragmentary doubtprovoking
knowledge which we call truth Let a prejudice be bequeathed car ied in the
air adopted by hearsay caught in through the eye however it may come these
minds will give it a habitation it is something to assert strongly and bravely
something to fill up the void of spontaneous ideas something to impose on
others with the authority of conscious right it is at once a staff and a baton
Every prejudice that will answer these purposes is selfevident Our good
upright Tom Tullivers mind was of this class his inward criticism of his
fathers faults did not prevent him from adopting his fathers prejudice it was
a prejudice against a man of lax principle and lax life and it was a
meetingpoint for all the disappointed feelings of family and personal pride
Other feelings added their force to produce Toms bitter repugnance to Philip
and to Maggies union with him and notwithstanding Lucys power over her
strongwilled cousin she got nothing but a cold refusal ever to sanction such a
marriage »but of course Maggie could do as she liked she had declared her
determination to be independent For Toms part he held himself bound by his
duty to his fathers memory and by every manly feeling never to consent to any
relation with the Wakems«
Thus all that Lucy had effected by her zealous mediation was to fill Toms
mind with the expectation that Maggies perverse resolve to go into a situation
again would presently metamorphose itself as her resolves were apt to do into
something equally perverse but entirely different a marriage with Philip
Wakem
Chapter XIII
Borne Along by the Tide
In less than a week Maggie was at St Oggs again outwardly in much the same
position as when her visit there had just begun It was easy for her to fill her
mornings apart from Lucy without any obvious effort for she had her promised
visits to pay to her aunt Glegg and it was natural that she should give her
mother more than usual of her companionship in these last weeks especially as
there were preparations to be thought of for Toms housekeeping But Lucy would
hear of no pretext for her remaining away in the evenings she must always come
from aunt Gleggs before dinner »else what shall I have of you« said Lucy
with a tearful pout that could not be resisted And Mr Stephen Guest had
unaccountably taken to dining at Mr Deanes as often as possible instead of
avoiding that as he used to do At first he began his mornings with a
resolution that he would not dine there not even go in the evening till
Maggie was away He had even devised a plan of starting off on a journey in this
agreeable June weather the headaches which he had constantly been alleging as a
ground for stupidity and silence were a sufficient ostensible motive But the
journey was not taken and by the fourth morning no distinct resolution was
formed about the evenings they were only foreseen as times when Maggie would
still be present for a little while when one more touch one more glance
might be snatched For why not There was nothing to conceal between them they
knew they had confessed their love and they had renounced each other they
were going to part Honour and conscience were going to divide them Maggie
with that appeal from her inmost soul had decided it but surely they might
cast a lingering look at each other across the gulf before they turned away
never to look again till that strange light had for ever faded out of their
eyes
Maggie all this time moved about with a quiescence and even torpor of
manner so contrasted with her usual fitful brightness and ardour that Lucy
would have had to seek some other cause for such a change if she had not been
convinced that the position in which Maggie stood between Philip and her
brother and the prospect of her selfimposed wearisome banishment were quite
enough to account for a large amount of depression But under this torpor there
was a fierce battle of emotions such as Maggie in all her life of struggle had
never known or foreboded it seemed to her as if all the worst evil in her had
lain in ambush till now and had suddenly started up fullarmed with hideous
overpowering strength There were moments in which a cruel selfishness seemed to
be getting possession of her why should not Lucy why should not Philip
suffer She had had to suffer through many years of her life and who had
renounced anything for her And when something like that fulness of existence
love wealth ease refinement all that her nature craved was brought within
her reach why was she to forego it that another might have it another who
perhaps needed it less But amidst all this new passionate tumult there were the
old voices making themselves heard with rising power till from time to time
the tumult seemed quelled Was that existence which tempted her the full
existence she dreamed Where then would be all the memories of early striving
all the deep pity for anothers pain which had been nurtured in her through
years of affection and hardship all the divine presentiment of something
higher than mere personal enjoyment which had made the sacredness of life She
might as well hope to enjoy walking by maiming her feet as hope to enjoy an
existence in which she set out by maiming the faith and sympathy that were the
best organs of her soul And then if pain were so hard to her what was it to
others »Ah God preserve me from inflicting give me strength to bear it«
How had she sunk into this struggle with a temptation that she would once have
thought herself as secure from as from deliberate crime When was that first
hateful moment in which she had been conscious of a feeling that clashed with
her truth affection and gratitude and had not shaken it from her with horror
as if it had been a loathsome thing And yet since this strange sweet
subduing influence did not should not conquer her since it was to remain
simply her own suffering her mind was meeting Stephens in that thought of
his that they might still snatch moments of mute confession before the parting
came For was not he suffering too She saw it daily saw it in the sickened
look of fatigue with which as soon as he was not compelled to exert himself he
relapsed into indifference towards everything but the possibility of watching
her Could she refuse sometimes to answer that beseeching look which she felt to
be following her like a low murmur of love and pain She refused it less and
less till at last the evening for them both was sometimes made of a moments
mutual gaze they thought of it till it came and when it had come they thought
of nothing else One other thing Stephen seemed now and then to care for and
that was to sing it was a way of speaking to Maggie Perhaps he was not
distinctly conscious that he was impelled to it by a secret longing running
counter to all his selfconfessed resolves to deepen the hold he had on her
Watch your own speech and notice how it is guided by your less conscious
purposes and you will understand that contradiction in Stephen
Philip Wakem was a less frequent visitor but he came occasionally in the
evening and it happened that he was there when Lucy said as they sat out on
the lawn near sunset
»Now Maggies tale of visits to aunt Glegg is completed I mean that we
shall go out boating every day until she goes She has not had half enough
boating because of these tiresome visits and she likes it better than anything
Dont you Maggie«
»Better than any sort of locomotion I hope you mean« said Philip smiling
at Maggie who was lolling backward in a low gardenchair »else she will be
selling her soul to that ghostly boatman who haunts the Floss only for the
sake of being drifted in a boat for ever«
»Should you like to be her boatman« said Lucy »Because if you would you
can come with us and take an oar If the Floss were but a quiet lake instead of
a river we should be independent of any gentleman for Maggie can row
splendidly As it is we are reduced to ask services of knights and squires who
do not seem to offer them with great alacrity«
She looked playful reproach at Stephen who was sauntering up and down and
was just singing in pianissimo falsetto
»The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine«
He took no notice but still kept aloof he had done so frequently during
Philips recent visits
»You dont seem inclined for boating« said Lucy when he came to sit down
by her on the bench »Doesnt rowing suit you now«
»O I hate a large party in a boat« he said almost irritably »Ill come
when you have no one else«
Lucy coloured fearing that Philip would be hurt it was quite a new thing
for Stephen to speak in that way but he had certainly not been well of late
Philip coloured too but less from a feeling of personal offence than from a
vague suspicion that Stephens moodiness had some relation to Maggie who had
started up from her chair as he spoke and had walked towards the hedge of
laurels to look at the descending sunlight on the river
»As Miss Deane didnt know she was excluding others by inviting me« said
Philip »I am bound to resign«
»No indeed you shall not« said Lucy much vexed »I particularly wish for
your company tomorrow The tide will suit at halfpast ten it will be a
delicious time for a couple of hours to row to Luckreth and walk back before
the sun gets too hot And how can you object to four people in a boat« she
added looking at Stephen
»I dont object to the people but the number« said Stephen who had
recovered himself and was rather ashamed of his rudeness »If I voted for a
fourth at all of course it would be you Phil But we wont divide the pleasure
of escorting the ladies well take it alternately Ill go the next day«
This incident had the effect of drawing Philips attention with freshened
solicitude towards Stephen and Maggie but when they reentered the house music
was proposed and Mrs Tulliver and Mr Deane being occupied with cribbage
Maggie sat apart near the table where the books and work were placed doing
nothing however but listening abstractedly to the music Stephen presently
turned to a duet which he insisted that Lucy and Philip should sing he had
often done the same thing before but this evening Philip thought he divined
some double intention in every word and look of Stephens and watched him
keenly angry with himself all the while for this clinging suspicion For had
not Maggie virtually denied any ground for his doubts on her side and she was
truth itself it was impossible not to believe her word and glance when they had
last spoken together in the garden Stephen might be strongly fascinated by her
what was more natural but Philip felt himself rather base for intruding on
what must be his friends painful secret Still he watched Stephen moving
away from the piano sauntered slowly towards the table near which Maggie sat
and turned over the newspapers apparently in mere idleness Then he seated
himself with his back to the piano dragging a newspaper under his elbow and
thrusting his hand through his hair as if he had been attracted by some bit of
local news in the Laceham Courier He was in reality looking at Maggie who had
not taken the slightest notice of his approach She had always additional
strength of resistance when Philip was present just as we can restrain our
speech better in a spot that we feel to be hallowed But at last she heard the
word »dearest« uttered in the softest tone of pained entreaty like that of a
patient who asks for something that ought to have been given without asking She
had never heard that word since the moments in the lane at Basset when it had
come from Stephen again and again almost as involuntarily as if it had been an
inarticulate cry Philip could hear no word but he had moved to the opposite
side of the piano and could see Maggie start and blush raise her eyes an
instant towards Stephens face but immediately look apprehensively towards
himself It was not evident to her that Philip had observed her but a pang of
shame under the sense of this concealment made her move from her chair and
walk to her mothers side to watch the game at cribbage
Philip went home soon after in a state of hideous doubt mingled with
wretched certainty It was impossible for him now to resist the conviction that
there was some mutual consciousness between Stephen and Maggie and for half the
night his irritable susceptible nerves were pressed upon almost to frenzy by
that one wretched fact he could attempt no explanation that would reconcile it
with her words and actions When at last the need for belief in Maggie rose to
its habitual predominance he was not long in imagining the truth she was
struggling she was banishing herself this was the clue to all he had seen
since his return But athwart that belief there came other possibilities that
would not be driven out of sight His imagination wrought out the whole story
Stephen was madly in love with her he must have told her so she had rejected
him and was hurrying away But would he give her up knowing Philip felt the
fact with heartcrushing despair that she was made half helpless by her
feeling towards him
When the morning came Philip was too ill to think of keeping his engagement
to go in the boat In his present agitation he could decide on nothing he could
only alternate between contradictory intentions First he thought he must have
an interview with Maggie and entreat her to confide in him then again he
distrusted his own interference Had he not been thrusting himself on Maggie all
along She had uttered words long ago in her young ignorance it was enough to
make her hate him that these should be continually present with her as a bond
And had he any right to ask her for a revelation of feelings which she had
evidently intended to withhold from him He would not trust himself to see her
till he had assured himself that he could act from pure anxiety for her and not
from egoistic irritation He wrote a brief note to Stephen and sent it early by
the servant saying that he was not well enough to fulfil his engagement to Miss
Deane Would Stephen take his excuse and fill his place
Lucy had arranged a charming plan which had made her quite content with
Stephens refusal to go in the boat She discovered that her father was to drive
to Lindum this morning at ten Lindum was the very place she wanted to go to to
make purchases important purchases which must by no means be put off to
another opportunity and aunt Tulliver must go too because she was concerned in
some of the purchases
»You will have your row in the boat just the same you know« she said to
Maggie when they went out of the breakfastroom and upstairs together »Philip
will be here at halfpast ten and it is a delicious morning Now dont say a
word against it you dear dolorous thing What is the use of my being a fairy
godmother if you set your face against all the wonders I work for you Dont
think of awful cousin Tom you may disobey him a little«
Maggie did not persist in objecting She was almost glad of the plan for
perhaps it would bring her some strength and calmness to be alone with Philip
again it was like revisiting the scene of a quieter life in which the very
struggles were repose compared with the daily tumult of the present She
prepared herself for the boat and at halfpast ten sat waiting in the
drawingroom
The ring of the doorbell was punctual and she was thinking with halfsad
affectionate pleasure of the surprise Philip would have in finding that he was
to be with her alone when she distinguished a firm rapid step across the hall
that was certainly not Philips the door opened and Stephen Guest entered
In the first moment they were both too much agitated to speak for Stephen
had learned from the servant that the others were gone out Maggie had started
up and sat down again with her heart beating violently and Stephen throwing
down his cap and gloves came and sat by her in silence She thought Philip
would be coming soon and with great effort for she trembled visibly she
rose to go to a distant chair
»He is not coming« said Stephen in a low tone »I am going in the boat«
»O we cant go« said Maggie sinking into her chair again »Lucy did not
expect she would be hurt Why is not Philip come«
»He is not well he asked me to come instead«
»Lucy is gone to Lindum« said Maggie taking off her bonnet with hurried
trembling fingers »We must not go«
»Very well« said Stephen dreamily looking at her as he rested his arm on
the back of his chair »Then well stay here«
He was looking into her deep deep eyes faroff and mysterious as the
starlit blackness and yet very near and timidly loving Maggie sat perfectly
still perhaps for moments perhaps for minutes until the helpless trembling
had ceased and there was a warm glow on her cheek
»The man is waiting he has taken the cushions« she said »Will you go and
tell him«
»What shall I tell him« said Stephen almost in a whisper He was looking
at the lips now
Maggie made no answer
»Let us go« Stephen murmured entreatingly rising and taking her hand to
raise her too »We shall not be long together«
And they went Maggie felt that she was being led down the garden among the
roses being helped with firm tender care into the boat having the cushion and
cloak arranged for her feet and her parasol opened for her which she had
forgotten all by this stronger presence that seemed to bear her along without
any act of her own will like the added self which comes with the sudden
exalting influence of a strong tonic and she felt nothing else Memory was
excluded
They glided rapidly along Stephen rowing helped by the backwardflowing
tide past the Tofton trees and houses on between the silent sunny fields and
pastures which seemed filled with a natural joy that had no reproach for
theirs The breath of the young unwearied day the delicious rhythmic dip of
the oars the fragmentary song of a passing bird heard now and then as if it
were only the overflowing of brimfull gladness the sweet solitude of a twofold
consciousness that was mingled into one by that grave untiring gaze which need
not be averted what else could there be in their minds for the first hour
Some low subdued languid exclamation of love came from Stephen from time to
time as he went on rowing idly half automatically otherwise they spoke no
word for what could words have been but an inlet to thought and thought did
not belong to that enchanted haze in which they were enveloped it belonged to
the past and the future that lay outside the haze Maggie was only dimly
conscious of the banks as they passed them and dwelt with no recognition on
the villages she knew there were several to be passed before they reached
Luckreth where they always stopped and left the boat At all times she was so
liable to fits of absence that she was likely enough to let her waymarks pass
unnoticed
But at last Stephen who had been rowing more and more idly ceased to row
laid down the oars folded his arms and looked down on the water as if watching
the pace at which the boat glided without his help This sudden change roused
Maggie She looked at the farstretching fields at the banks close by and
felt that they were entirely strange to her A terrible alarm took possession of
her
»O have we passed Luckreth where we were to stop« she exclaimed looking
back to see if the place were out of sight No village was to be seen She
turned round again with a look of distressed questioning at Stephen
He went on watching the water and said in a strange dreamy absent tone
»Yes a long way«
»O what shall I do« cried Maggie in an agony »We shall not get home for
hours and Lucy O God help me«
She clasped her hands and broke into a sob like a frightened child she
thought of nothing but of meeting Lucy and seeing her look of pained surprise
and doubt perhaps of just upbraiding
Stephen moved and sat near her and gently drew down the clasped hands
»Maggie« he said in a deep tone of slow decision »let us never go home
again till no one can part us till we are married«
The unusual tone the startling words arrested Maggies sob and she sat
quite still wondering as if Stephen might have seen some possibilities that
would alter everything and annul the wretched facts
»See Maggie how everything has come without our seeking in spite of all
our efforts We never thought of being alone together again it has all been
done by others See how the tide is carrying us out away from all those
unnatural bonds that we have been trying to make faster round us and trying in
vain It will carry us on to Torby and we can land there and get some
carriage and hurry on to York and then to Scotland and never pause a moment
till we are bound to each other so that only death can part us It is the only
right thing dearest it is the only way of escaping from this wretched
entanglement Everything has concurred to point it out to us We have contrived
nothing we have thought of nothing ourselves«
Stephen spoke with deep earnest pleading Maggie listened passing from
her startled wonderment to the yearning after that belief that the tide was
doing it all that she might glide along with the swift silent stream and not
struggle any more But across that stealing influence came the terrible shadow
of past thoughts and the sudden horror lest now at last the moment of fatal
intoxication was close upon her called up feelings of angry resistance towards
Stephen
»Let me go« she said in an agitated tone flashing an indignant look at
him and trying to get her hands free »You have wanted to deprive me of any
choice You knew we were come too far you have dared to take advantage of my
thoughtlessness It is unmanly to bring me into such a position«
Stung by this reproach he released her hands moved back to his former
place and folded his arms in a sort of desperation at the difficulty Maggies
words had made present to him If she would not consent to go on he must curse
himself for the embarrassment he had led her into But the reproach was the
unendurable thing the one thing worse than parting with her was that she
should feel he had acted unworthily towards her At last he said in a tone of
suppressed rage
»I didnt notice that we had passed Luckreth till we had got to the next
village and then it came into my mind that we would go on I cant justify it
I ought to have told you It is enough to make you hate me since you dont
love me well enough to make everything else indifferent to you as I do you
Shall I stop the boat and try to get you out here Ill tell Lucy that I was
mad and that you hate me and you shall be clear of me for ever No one can
blame you because I have behaved unpardonably to you«
Maggie was paralysed it was easier to resist Stephens pleading than this
picture he had called up of himself suffering while she was vindicated easier
even to turn away from his look of tenderness than from this look of angry
misery that seemed to place her in selfish isolation from him He had called up
a state of feeling in which the reasons which had acted on her conscience seemed
to be transmuted into mere selfregard The indignant fire in her eyes was
quenched and she began to look at him with timid distress She had reproached
him for being hurried into irrevocable trespass she who had been so weak
herself
»As if I shouldnt feel what happened to you just the same« she said
with reproach of another kind the reproach of love asking for more trust
This yielding to the idea of Stephens suffering was more fatal than the other
yielding because it was less distinguishable from that sense of others claims
which was the moral basis of her resistance
He felt all the relenting in her look and tone it was heaven opening
again He moved to her side and took her hand leaning his elbow on the back of
the boat and saying nothing He dreaded to utter another word he dreaded to
make another movement that might provoke another reproach or denial from her
Life hung on her consent everything else was hopeless confused sickening
misery They glided along in this way both resting in that silence as in a
haven both dreading lest their feelings should be divided again till they
became aware that the clouds had gathered and that the slightest perceptible
freshening of the breeze was growing and growing so that the whole character of
the day was altered
»You will be chill Maggie in this thin dress Let me raise the cloak over
your shoulders Get up an instant dearest«
Maggie obeyed there was an unspeakable charm in being told what to do and
having everything decided for her She sat down again covered with the cloak
and Stephen took to his oars again making haste for they must try to get to
Torby as fast as they could Maggie was hardly conscious of having said or done
anything decisive All yielding is attended with a less vivid consciousness than
resistance it is the partial sleep of thought it is the submergence of our own
personality by another Every influence tended to lull her into acquiescence
that dreamy gliding in the boat which had lasted for four hours and had
brought some weariness and exhaustion the recoil of her fatigued sensations
from the impracticable difficulty of getting out of the boat at this unknown
distance from home and walking for long miles all helped to bring her into
more complete subjection to that strong mysterious charm which made a last
parting from Stephen seem the death of all joy and made the thought of wounding
him like the first touch of the torturing iron before which resolution shrank
And then there was the present happiness of being with him which was enough to
absorb all her languid energy
Presently Stephen observed a vessel coming after them Several vessels
among them the steamer to Mudport had passed them with the early tide but for
the last hour they had seen none He looked more and more eagerly at this
vessel as if a new thought had come into his mind along with it and then he
looked at Maggie hesitatingly
»Maggie dearest« he said at last »if this vessel should be going to
Mudport or to any convenient place on the coast northward it would be our best
plan to get them to take us on board You are fatigued and it may soon rain
it may be a wretched business getting to Torby in this boat Its only a
tradingvessel but I daresay you can be made tolerably comfortable Well take
the cushions out of the boat It is really our best plan Theyll be glad enough
to take us Ive got plenty of money about me I can pay them well«
Maggies heart began to beat with reawakened alarm at this new proposition
but she was silent one course seemed as difficult as another
Stephen hailed the vessel It was a Dutch vessel going to Mudport the
English mate informed him and if this wind held would be there in less than
two days
»We had got out too far with our boat« said Stephen »I was trying to make
for Torby But Im afraid of the weather and this lady my wife will be
exhausted with fatigue and hunger Take us on board will you and haul up
the boat Ill pay you well«
Maggie now really faint and trembling with fear was taken on board making
an interesting object of contemplation to admiring Dutchmen The mate feared the
lady would have a poor time of it on board for they had no accommodation for
such entirely unlookedfor passengers no private cabin larger than an
oldfashioned churchpew But at least they had Dutch cleanliness which makes
all other inconveniences tolerable and the boatcushions were spread into a
couch for Maggie on the poop with all alacrity But to pace up and down the deck
leaning on Stephen being upheld by his strength was the first change that
she needed then came food and then quiet reclining on the cushions with the
sense that no new resolution could be taken that day Everything must wait till
tomorrow Stephen sat beside her with her hand in his they could only speak to
each other in low tones only look at each other now and then for it would take
a long while to dull the curiosity of the five men on board and reduce these
handsome young strangers to that minor degree of interest which belongs in a
sailors regard to all objects nearer than the horizon But Stephen was
triumphantly happy Every other thought or care was thrown into unmarked
perspective by the certainty that Maggie must be his The leap had been taken
now he had been tortured by scruples he had fought fiercely with overmastering
inclination he had hesitated but repentance was impossible He murmured forth
in fragmentary sentences his happiness his adoration his tenderness his
belief that their life together must be heaven that her presence with him
would give rapture to every common day that to satisfy her lightest wish was
dearer to him than all other bliss that everything was easy for her sake
except to part with her and now they never would part he would belong to her
for ever and all that was his was hers had no value for him except as it was
hers Such things uttered in low broken tones by the one voice that has first
stirred the fibre of young passion have only a feeble effect on experienced
minds at a distance from them To poor Maggie they were very near they were
like nectar held close to thirsty lips there was there must be then a life
for mortals here below which was not hard and chill in which affection would
no longer be selfsacrifice Stephens passionate words made the vision of such
a life more fully present to her than it had ever been before and the vision
for the time excluded all realities all except the returning sungleams which
broke out on the waters as the evening approached and mingled with the
visionary sunlight of promised happiness all except the hand that pressed
hers and the voice that spoke to her and the eyes that looked at her with
grave unspeakable love
There was to be no rain after all the clouds rolled off to the horizon
again making the great purple rampart and long purple isles of that wondrous
land which reveals itself to us when the sun goes down the land that the
evening star watches over Maggie was to sleep all night on the poop it was
better than going below and she was covered with the warmest wrappings the ship
could furnish It was still early when the fatigues of the day brought on a
drowsy longing for perfect rest and she laid down her head looking at the
faint dying flush in the west where the one golden lamp was getting brighter
and brighter Then she looked up at Stephen who was still seated by her
hanging over her as he leaned his arm against the vessels side Behind all the
delicious visions of these last hours which had flowed over her like a soft
stream and made her entirely passive there was the dim consciousness that the
condition was a transient one and that the morrow must bring back the old life
of struggle that there were thoughts which would presently avenge themselves
for this oblivion But now nothing was distinct to her she was being lulled to
sleep with that soft stream still flowing over her with those delicious visions
melting and fading like the wondrous aërial land of the west
Chapter XIV
Waking
When Maggie was gone to sleep Stephen weary too with his unaccustomed amount
of rowing and with the intense inward life of the last twelve hours but too
restless to sleep walked and lounged about the deck with his cigar far on into
midnight not seeing the dark water hardly conscious there were stars living
only in the near and distant future At last fatigue conquered restlessness and
he rolled himself up in a piece of tarpauling on the deck near Maggies feet
She had fallen asleep before nine and had been sleeping for six hours
before the faintest hint of a midsummer daybreak was discernible She awoke from
that vivid dreaming which makes the margin of our deeper rest She was in a boat
on the wide water with Stephen and in the gathering darkness something like a
star appeared that grew and grew till they saw it was the Virgin seated in St
Oggs boat and it came nearer and nearer till they saw the Virgin was Lucy and
the boatman was Philip no not Philip but her brother who rowed past without
looking at her and she rose to stretch out her arms and call to him and their
own boat turned over with the movement and they began to sink till with one
spasm of dread she seemed to awake and find she was a child again in the
parlour at evening twilight and Tom was not really angry From the soothed
sense of that false waking she passed to the real waking to the plash of water
against the vessel and the sound of a footstep on the deck and the awful
starlit sky There was a moment of utter bewilderment before her mind could get
disentangled from the confused web of dreams but soon the whole terrible truth
urged itself upon her Stephen was not by her now she was alone with her own
memory and her own dread The irrevocable wrong that must blot her life had been
committed she had brought sorrow into the lives of others into the lives that
were knit up with hers by trust and love The feeling of a few short weeks had
hurried her into the sins her nature had most recoiled from breach of faith
and cruel selfishness she had rent the ties that had given meaning to duty and
had made herself an outlawed soul with no guide but the wayward choice of her
own passion And where would that lead her where had it led her now She had
said she would rather die than fall into that temptation She felt it now now
that the consequences of such a fall had come before the outward act was
completed There was at least this fruit from all her years of striving after
the highest and best that her soul though betrayed beguiled ensnared could
never deliberately consent to a choice of the lower And a choice of what O God
not a choice of joy but of conscious cruelty and hardness for could she ever
cease to see before her Lucy and Philip with their murdered trust and hopes
Her life with Stephen could have no sacredness she must for ever sink and
wander vaguely driven by uncertain impulse for she had let go the clue of life
that clue which once in the faroff years her young need had clutched so
strongly She had renounced all delights then before she knew them before they
had come within her reach Philip had been right when he told her that she knew
nothing of renunciation she had thought it was quiet ecstasy she saw it face
to face now that sad patient loving strength which holds the clue of life
and saw that the thorns were for ever pressing on its brow The yesterday which
could never be revoked if she could have changed it now for any length of
inward silent endurance she would have bowed beneath that cross with a sense of
rest
Daybreak came and the reddening eastern light while her past life was
grasping her in this way with that tightening clutch which comes in the last
moments of possible rescue She could see Stephen now lying on the deck still
fast asleep and with the sight of him there came a wave of anguish that found
its way in a longsuppressed sob The worst bitterness of parting the thought
that urged the sharpest inward cry for help was the pain it must give to him
But surmounting everything was the horror at her own possible failure the dread
lest her conscience should be benumbed again and not rise to energy till it was
too late Too late it was too late already not to have caused misery too
late for everything perhaps but to rush away from the last act of baseness
the tasting of joys that were wrung from crushed hearts
The sun was rising now and Maggie started up with the sense that a day of
resistance was beginning for her Her eyelashes were still wet with tears as
with her shawl over her head she sat looking at the slowlyrounding sun
Something roused Stephan too and getting up from his hard bed he came to sit
beside her The sharp instinct of anxious love saw something to give him alarm
in the very first glance He had a hovering dread of some resistance in Maggies
nature that he would be unable to overcome He had the uneasy consciousness that
he had robbed her of perfect freedom yesterday there was too much native honour
in him for him not to feel that if her will should recoil his conduct would
have been odious and she would have a right to reproach him
But Maggie did not feel that right she was too conscious of fatal weakness
in herself too full of the tenderness that comes with the foreseen need for
inflicting a wound She let him take her hand when he came to sit down beside
her and smiled at him only with rather a sad glance she could say nothing to
pain him till the moment of possible parting was nearer And so they drank their
cup of coffee together and walked about the deck and heard the captains
assurance that they should be in at Mudport by five oclock each with an inward
burthen but in him it was an undefined fear which he trusted to the coming
hours to dissipate in her it was a definite resolve on which she was trying
silently to tighten her hold Stephen was continually through the morning
expressing his anxiety at the fatigue and discomfort she was suffering and
alluded to landing and to the change of motion and repose she would have in a
carriage wanting to assure himself more completely by presupposing that
everything would be as he had arranged it For a long while Maggie contented
herself with assuring him that she had had a good nights rest and that she
didnt mind about being on the vessel it was not like being on the open sea
it was only a little less pleasant than being in a boat on the Floss But a
suppressed resolve will betray itself in the eyes and Stephen became more and
more uneasy as the day advanced under the sense that Maggie had entirely lost
her passiveness He longed but did not dare to speak of their marriage of
where they would go after it and the steps he would take to inform his father
and the rest of what had happened He longed to assure himself of a tacit
assent from her But each time he looked at her he gathered a stronger dread of
the new quiet sadness with which she met his eyes And they were more and more
silent
»Here we are in sight of Mudport« he said at last »Now dearest« he
added turning towards her with a look that was halfbeseeching »the worst part
of your fatigue is over On the land we can command swiftness In another hour
and a half we shall be in a chaise together and that will seem rest to you
after this«
Maggie felt it was time to speak it would only be unkind now to assent by
silence She spoke in the lowest tone as he had done but with distinct
decision
»We shall not be together we shall have parted«
The blood rushed to Stephens face
»We shall not« he said »Ill die first«
It was as he had dreaded there was a struggle coming But neither of them
dared to say another word till the boat was let down and they were taken to
the landingplace Here there was a cluster of gazers and passengers awaiting
the departure of the steamboat to St Oggs Maggie had a dim sense when she had
landed and Stephen was hurrying her along on his arm that some one had
advanced towards her from that cluster as if he were coming to speak to her But
she was hurried along and was indifferent to everything but the coming trial
A porter guided them to the nearest inn and postinghouse and Stephen gave
the order for the chaise as they passed through the yard Maggie took no notice
of this and only said »Ask them to show us into a room where we can sit down«
When they entered Maggie did not sit down and Stephen whose face had a
desperate determination in it was about to ring the bell when she said in a
firm voice
»Im not going we must part here«
»Maggie« he said turning round towards her and speaking in the tones of a
man who feels a process of torture beginning »do you mean to kill me What is
the use of it now The whole thing is done«
»No it is not done« said Maggie »Too much is done more than we can ever
remove the trace of But I will go no farther Dont try to prevail with me
again I couldnt choose yesterday«
What was he to do He dared not go near her her anger might leap out and
make a new barrier He walked backwards and forwards in maddening perplexity
»Maggie« he said at last pausing before her and speaking in a tone of
imploring wretchedness »have some pity hear me forgive me for what I did
yesterday I will obey you now I will do nothing without your full consent
But dont blight our lives for ever by a rash perversity that can answer no good
purpose to any one that can only create new evils Sit down dearest wait
think what you are going to do Dont treat me as if you couldnt trust me«
He had chosen the most effective appeal but Maggies will was fixed
unswervingly on the coming wrench She had made up her mind to suffer
»We must not wait« she said in a low but distinct voice »we must part at
once«
»We cant part Maggie« said Stephen more impetuously »I cant bear it
What is the use of inflicting that misery on me the blow whatever it may have
been has been struck now Will it help any one else that you should drive me
mad«
»I will not begin any future even for you« said Maggie tremulously »with
a deliberate consent to what ought not to have been What I told you at Basset I
feel now I would rather have died than fall into this temptation It would have
been better if we had parted for ever then But we must part now«
»We will not part« Stephen burst out instinctively placing his back
against the door forgetting everything he had said a few moments before »I
will not endure it Youll make me desperate I shant know what I do«
Maggie trembled She felt that the parting could not be effected suddenly
She must rely on a slower appeal to Stephens better self she must be prepared
for a harder task than that of rushing away while resolution was fresh She sat
down Stephen watching her with that look of desperation which had come over
him like a lurid light approached slowly from the door seated himself close
beside her and grasped her hand Her heart beat like the heart of a frightened
bird but this direct opposition helped her She felt her determination growing
stronger
»Remember what you felt weeks ago« she began with beseeching earnestness
»remember what we both felt that we owed ourselves to others and must conquer
every inclination which could make us false to that debt We have failed to keep
our resolutions but the wrong remains the same«
»No it does not remain the same« said Stephen »We have proved that it was
impossible to keep our resolutions We have proved that the feeling which draws
us towards each other is too strong to be overcome that natural law surmounts
every other we cant help what it clashes with«
»It is not so Stephen Im quite sure that is wrong I have tried to think
it again and again but I see if we judged in that way there would be a
warrant for all treachery and cruelty we should justify breaking the most
sacred ties that can ever be formed on earth If the past is not to bind us
where can duty lie We should have no law but the inclination of the moment«
»But there are ties that cant be kept by mere resolution« said Stephen
starting up and walking about again »What is outward faithfulness Would they
have thanked us for anything so hollow as constancy without love«
Maggie did not answer immediately She was undergoing an inward as well as
an outward contest At last she said with a passionate assertion of her
conviction as much against herself as against him
»That seems right at first but when I look further Im sure it is not
right Faithfulness and constancy mean something else besides doing what is
easiest and pleasantest to ourselves They mean renouncing whatever is opposed
to the reliance others have in us whatever would cause misery to those whom
the course of our lives has made dependent on us If we if I had been better
nobler those claims would have been so strongly present with me I should have
felt them pressing on my heart so continually just as they do now in the
moments when my conscience is awake that the opposite feeling would never have
grown in me as it has done it would have been quenched at once I should have
prayed for help so earnestly I should have rushed away as we rush from hideous
danger I feel no excuse for myself none I should never have failed towards
Lucy and Philip as I have done if I had not been weak selfish and hard able
to think of their pain without a pain to myself that would have destroyed all
temptation O what is Lucy feeling now She believed in me she loved me she
was so good to me Think of her «
Maggies voice was getting choked as she uttered these last words
»I cant think of her« said Stephen stamping as if with pain »I can think
of nothing but you Maggie You demand of a man what is impossible I felt that
once but I cant go back to it now And where is the use of your thinking of
it except to torture me You cant save them from pain now you can only tear
yourself from me and make my life worthless to me And even if we could go
back and both fulfil our engagements if that were possible now it would be
hateful horrible to think of your ever being Philips wife of your ever
being the wife of a man you didnt love We have both been rescued from a
mistake«
A deep flush came over Maggies face and she couldnt speak Stephen saw
this He sat down again taking her hand in his and looking at her with
passionate entreaty
»Maggie Dearest If you love me you are mine Who can have so great a
claim on you as I have My life is bound up in your love There is nothing in
the past that can annul our right to each other it is the first time we have
either of us loved with our whole heart and soul«
Maggie was still silent for a little while looking down Stephen was in a
flutter of new hope he was going to triumph But she raised her eyes and met
his with a glance that was filled with the anguish of regret not with
yielding
»No not with my whole heart and soul Stephen« she said with timid
resolution »I have never consented to it with my whole mind There are
memories and affections and longings after perfect goodness that have such a
strong hold on me they would never quit me for long they would come back and
be pain to me repentance I couldnt live in peace if I put the shadow of a
wilful sin between myself and God I have caused sorrow already I know I
feel it but I have never deliberately consented to it I have never said They
shall suffer that I may have joy It has never been my will to marry you if
you were to win consent from the momentary triumph of my feeling for you you
would not have my whole soul If I could wake back again into the time before
yesterday I would choose to be true to my calmer affections and live without
the joy of love«
Stephen loosed her hand and rising impatiently walked up and down the
room in suppressed rage
»Good God« he burst out at last »what a miserable thing a womans love is
to a mans I could commit crimes for you and you can balance and choose in
that way But you dont love me if you had a tithe of the feeling for me that I
have for you it would be impossible to you to think for a moment of sacrificing
me But it weighs nothing with you that you are robbing me of my lifes
happiness«
Maggie pressed her fingers together almost convulsively as she held them
clasped on her lap A great terror was upon her as if she were ever and anon
seeing where she stood by great flashes of lightning and then again stretched
forth her hands in the darkness
»No I dont sacrifice you I couldnt sacrifice you« she said as soon
as she could speak again »but I cant believe in a good for you that I feel
that we both feel is a wrong towards others We cant choose happiness either
for ourselves or for another we cant tell where that will lie We can only
choose whether we will indulge ourselves in the present moment or whether we
will renounce that for the sake of obeying the divine voice within us for the
sake of being true to all the motives that sanctify our lives I know this
belief is hard it has slipped away from me again and again but I have felt
that if I let it go for ever I should have no light through the darkness of
this life«
»But Maggie« said Stephen seating himself by her again »is it possible
you dont see that what happened yesterday has altered the whole position of
things What infatuation is it what obstinate prepossession that blinds you to
that It is too late to say what we might have done or what we ought to have
done Admitting the very worst view of what has been done it is a fact we must
act on now our position is altered the right course is no longer what it was
before We must accept our own actions and start afresh from them Suppose we
had been married yesterday It is nearly the same thing The effect on others
would not have been different It would only have made this difference to
ourselves« Stephen added bitterly »that you might have acknowledged then that
your tie to me was stronger than to others«
Again a deep flush came over Maggies face and she was silent Stephen
thought again that he was beginning to prevail he had never yet believed that
he should not prevail there are possibilities which our minds shrink from too
completely for us to fear them
»Dearest« he said in his deepest tenderest tone leaning towards her and
putting his arm round her »you are mine now the world believes it duty must
spring out of that now in a few hours you will be legally mine and those who
had claims on us will submit they will see that there was a force which
declared against their claims«
Maggies eyes opened wide in one terrified look at the face that was close
to hers and she started up pale again
»O I cant do it« she said in a voice almost of agony »Stephen dont
ask me dont urge me I cant argue any longer I dont know what is wise
but my heart will not let me do it I see I feel their trouble now it is as
if it were branded on my mind I have suffered and had no one to pity me and
now I have made others suffer It would never leave me it would embitter your
love to me I do care for Philip in a different way I remember all we said to
each other I know how he thought of me as the one promise of his life He was
given to me that I might make his lot less hard and I have forsaken him And
Lucy she has been deceived she who trusted me more than any one I cannot
marry you I cannot take a good for myself that has been wrung out of their
misery It is not the force that ought to rule us this that we feel for each
other it would rend me away from all that my past life has made dear and holy
to me I cant set out on a fresh life and forget that I must go back to it
and cling to it else I shall feel as if there were nothing firm beneath my
feet«
»Good God Maggie« said Stephen rising too and grasping her arm »you
rave How can you go back without marrying me You dont know what will be said
dearest You see nothing as it really is«
»Yes I do But they will believe me I will confess everything Lucy will
believe me she will forgive you and and O some good will come by
clinging to the right Dear dear Stephen let me go dont drag me into
deeper remorse My whole soul has never consented it does not consent now«
Stephen let go her arm and sank back on his chair half stunned by
despairing rage He was silent a few moments not looking at her while her eyes
were turned towards him yearningly in alarm at this sudden change At last he
said still without looking at her
»Go then leave me dont torture me any longer I cant bear it«
Involuntarily she leaned towards him and put out her hand to touch his But
he shrank from it as if it had been burning iron and said again
»Leave me«
Maggie was not conscious of a decision as she turned away from that gloomy
averted face and walked out of the room it was like an automatic action that
fulfils a forgotten intention What came after A sense of stairs descended as
if in a dream of flagstones of a chaise and horses standing then a street
and a turning into another street where a stagecoach was standing taking in
passengers and the darting thought that that coach would take her away
perhaps towards home But she could ask nothing yet she only got into the
coach
Home where her mother and brother were Philip Lucy the scene of her
very cares and trials was the haven towards which her mind tended the
sanctuary where sacred relics lay where she would be rescued from more
falling The thought of Stephen was like a horrible throbbing pain which yet
as such pains do seemed to urge all other thoughts into activity But among her
thoughts what others would say and think of her conduct was hardly present
Love and deep pity and remorseful anguish left no room for that
The coach was taking her to York farther away from home but she did not
learn that until she was set down in the old city at midnight It was no matter
she could sleep there and start home the next day She had her purse in her
pocket with all her money in it a banknote and a sovereign she had kept it
in her pocket from forgetfulness after going out to make purchases the day
before yesterday
Did she lie down in the gloomy bedroom of the old inn that night with her
will bent unwaveringly on the path of penitent sacrifice The great struggles of
life are not so easy as that the great problems of life are not so clear In
the darkness of that night she saw Stephens face turned towards her in
passionate reproachful misery she lived through again all the tremulous
delights of his presence with her that made existence an easy floating in a
stream of joy instead of a quiet resolved endurance and effort The love she
had renounced came back upon her with a cruel charm she felt herself opening
her arms to receive it once more and then it seemed to slip away and fade and
vanish leaving only the dying sound of a deep thrilling voice that said »Gone
for ever gone«
Book Seventh
The Final Rescue
Chapter I
The Return to the Mill
Between four and five oclock on the afternoon of the fifth day from that on
which Stephen and Maggie had left St Oggs Tom Tulliver was standing on the
gravelwalk outside the old house at Dorlcote Mill He was master there now he
had halffulfilled his fathers dying wish and by years of steady
selfgovernment and energetic work he had brought himself near to the attainment
of more than the old respectability which had been the proud inheritance of the
Dodsons and Tullivers
But Toms face as he stood in the hot still sunshine of that summer
afternoon had no gladness no triumph in it His mouth wore its bitterest
expression his severe brow its hardest and deepest fold as he drew down his
hat farther over his eyes to shelter them from the sun and thrusting his hands
deep into his pockets began to walk up and down the gravel No news of his
sister had been heard since Bob Jakin had come back in the steamer from Mudport
and put an end to all improbable suppositions of an accident on the water by
stating that he had seen her land from a vessel with Mr Stephen Guest Would
the next news be that she was married or what Probably that she was not
married Toms mind was set to the expectation of the worst that could happen
not death but disgrace
As he was walking with his back towards the entrance gate and his face
towards the rushing millstream a tall darkeyed figure that we know well
approached the gate and paused to look at him with a fastbeating heart Her
brother was the human being of whom she had been most afraid from her childhood
upwards afraid with that fear which springs in us when we love one who is
inexorable unbending unmodifiable with a mind that we can never mould
ourselves upon and yet that we cannot endure to alienate from us That
deeprooted fear was shaking Maggie now but her mind was unswervingly bent on
returning to her brother as the natural refuge that had been given her In her
deep humiliation under the retrospect of her own weakness in her anguish at
the injury she had inflicted she almost desired to endure the severity of
Toms reproof to submit in patient silence to that harsh disapproving judgment
against which she had so often rebelled it seemed no more than just to her now
who was weaker than she was She craved that outward help to her better
purpose which would come from complete submissive confession from being in
the presence of those whose looks and words would be a reflection of her own
conscience
Maggie had been kept on her bed at York for a day with that prostrating
headache which was likely to follow on the terrible strain of the previous day
and night There was an expression of physical pain still about her brow and
eyes and her whole appearance with her dress so long unchanged was worn and
distressed She lifted the latch of the gate and walked in slowly Tom did not
hear the gate he was just then close upon the roaring dam but he presently
turned and lifting up his eyes saw the figure whose worn look and loneliness
seemed to him a confirmation of his worst conjectures He paused trembling and
white with disgust and indignation
Maggie paused too three yards before him She felt the hatred in his face
felt it rushing through her fibres but she must speak
»Tom« she began faintly »I am come back to you I am come back home
for refuge to tell you everything«
»You will find no home with me« he answered with tremulous rage »You have
disgraced us all You have disgraced my fathers name You have been a curse to
your best friends You have been base deceitful no motives are strong enough
to restrain you I wash my hands of you for ever You dont belong to me«
Their mother had come to the door now She stood paralysed by the double
shock of seeing Maggie and hearing Toms words
»Tom« said Maggie with more courage »I am perhaps not so guilty as you
believe me to be I never meant to give way to my feelings I struggled against
them I was carried too far in the boat to come back on Tuesday I came back as
soon as I could«
»I cant believe in you any more« said Tom gradually passing from the
tremulous excitement of the first moment to cold inflexibility »You have been
carrying on a clandestine relation with Stephen Guest as you did before with
another He went to see you at my aunt Mosss you walked alone with him in the
lanes you must have behaved as no modest girl would have done to her cousins
lover else that could never have happened The people at Luckreth saw you pass
you passed all the other places you knew what you were doing You have been
using Philip Wakem as a screen to deceive Lucy the kindest friend you ever
had Go and see the return you have made her shes ill unable to speak my
mother cant go near her lest she should remind her of you«
Maggie was half stunned too heavily pressed upon by her anguish even to
discern any difference between her actual guilt and her brothers accusations
still less to vindicate herself
»Tom« she said crushing her hands together under her cloak in the effort
to speak again »Whatever I have done I repent it bitterly I want to make
amends I will endure anything I want to be kept from doing wrong again«
»What will keep you« said Tom with cruel bitterness »Not religion not
your natural feelings of gratitude and honour And he he would deserve to be
shot if it were not But you are ten times worse than he is I loathe your
character and your conduct You struggled with your feelings you say Yes I
have had feelings to struggle with but I conquered them I have had a harder
life than you have had but I have found my comfort in doing my duty But I will
sanction no such character as yours the world shall know that I feel the
difference between right and wrong If you are in want I will provide for you
let my mother know But you shall not come under my roof It is enough that I
have to bear the thought of your disgrace the sight of you is hateful to me«
Slowly Maggie was turning away with despair in her heart But the poor
frightened mothers love leaped out now stronger than all dread
»My child Ill go with you Youve got a mother«
O the sweet rest of that embrace to the heartstricken Maggie More helpful
than all wisdom is one draught of simple human pity that will not forsake us
Tom turned and walked into the house
»Come in my child« Mrs Tulliver whispered »Hell let you stay and sleep
in my bed He wont deny that if I ask him«
»No mother« said Maggie in a low tone like a moan »I will never go in«
»Then wait for me outside Ill get ready and come with you«
When his mother appeared with her bonnet on Tom came out to her in the
passage and put money into her hands
»My house is yours mother always« he said »You will come and let me know
everything you want you will come back to me«
Poor Mrs Tulliver took the money too frightened to say anything The only
thing clear to her was the mothers instinct that she would go with her unhappy
child
Maggie was waiting outside the gate she took her mothers hand and they
walked a little way in silence
»Mother« said Maggie at last »we will go to Lukes cottage Luke will
take me in He was very good to me when I was a little girl«
»Hes got no room for us my dear now his wifes got so many children I
dont know where to go if it isnt to one o your aunts and I hardly durst«
said poor Mrs Tulliver quite destitute of mental resources in this extremity
Maggie was silent a little while and then said
»Let us go to Bob Jakins mother his wife will have room for us if they
have no other lodger«
So they went on their way to St Oggs to the old house by the riverside
Bob himself was at home with a heaviness at heart which resisted even the
new joy and pride of possessing a two months old baby quite the liveliest of
its age that had ever been born to prince or packman He would perhaps not so
thoroughly have understood all the dubiousness of Maggies appearance with Mr
Stephen Guest on the quay at Mudport if he had not witnessed the effect it
produced on Tom when he went to report it and since then the circumstances
which in any case gave a disastrous character to her elopement had passed
beyond the more polite circles of St Oggs and had become matter of common
talk accessible to the grooms and errandboys So that when he opened the door
and saw Maggie standing before him in her sorrow and weariness he had no
questions to ask except one which he dared only ask himself Where was Mr
Stephen Guest Bob for his part hoped he might be in the warmest department of
an asylum understood to exist in the other world for gentlemen who are likely to
be in fallen circumstances there
The lodgings were vacant and both Mrs Jakin the larger and Mrs Jakin the
less were commanded to make all things comfortable for »the old Missis and the
young Miss« alas that she was still »Miss« The ingenious Bob was sorely
perplexed as to how this result could have come about how Mr Stephen Guest
could have gone away from her or could have let her go away from him when he
had the chance of keeping her with him But he was silent and would not allow
his wife to ask him a question would not present himself in the room lest it
should appear like intrusion and a wish to pry having the same chivalry towards
darkeyed Maggie as in the days when he had bought her the memorable present of
books
But after a day or two Mrs Tulliver was gone to the Mill again for a few
hours to see to Toms household matters Maggie had wished this after the first
violent outburst of feeling which came as soon as she had no longer any active
purpose to fulfil she was less in need of her mothers presence she even
desired to be alone with her grief But she had been solitary only a little
while in the old sittingroom that looked on the river when there came a tap at
the door and turning round her sad face as she said »Come in« she saw Bob
enter with the baby in his arms and Mumps at his heels
»Well go back if it disturbs you Miss« said Bob
»No« said Maggie in a low voice wishing she could smile
Bob closing the door behind him came and stood before her
»You see weve got a little un Miss and I wanted you to look at it and
take it in your arms if youd be so good For we made free to name it after
you and it ud be better for your takin a bit o notice on it«
Maggie could not speak but she put out her arms to receive the tiny baby
while Mumps snuffed at it anxiously to ascertain that this transference was all
right Maggies heart had swelled at this action and speech of Bobs she knew
well enough that it was a way he had chosen to show his sympathy and respect
»Sit down Bob« she said presently and he sat down in silence finding his
tongue unmanageable in quite a new fashion refusing to say what he wanted it to
say
»Bob« she said after a few moments looking down at the baby and holding
it anxiously as if she feared it might slip from her mind and her fingers »I
have a favour to ask of you«
»Dont you speak so Miss« said Bob grasping the skin of Mumpss neck »if
theres anything I can do for you I should look upon it as a days earnings«
»I want you to go to Dr Kenns and ask to speak to him and tell him that I
am here and should be very grateful if he would come to me while my mother is
away She will not come back till evening«
»Eh Miss Id do it in a minute it is but a step but Dr Kenns wife
lies dead shes to be buried tomorrow died the day I come from Mudport
Its all the more pity she should ha died just now if you want him I hardly
like to go anigh him yet«
»O no Bob« said Maggie »we must let it be till after a few days
perhaps when you hear that he is going about again But perhaps he may be
going out of town to a distance« she added with a new sense of despondency
at this idea
»Not he Miss« said Bob »Hell none go away He isnt one o them
gentlefolks as go to cry at waterinplaces when their wives die hes got
summat else to do He looks fine an sharp after the parish he does He
christened the little un an he was at me to know what I did of a Sunday as I
didnt come to church But I told him I was upo the travel three parts o the
Sundays an then Im so used to bein on my legs I cant sit so long on end
an lors sir says I a packman can do wi a small lowance o church it
tastes strong says I theres no call to lay it on thick Eh Miss how good
the little un is wi you Its like as if it knowed you it partly does Ill be
bound like the birds know the mornin«
Bobs tongue was now evidently loosed from its unwonted bonage and might
even be in danger of doing more work than was required of it But the subjects
on which he longed to be informed were so steep and difficult of approach that
his tongue was likely to run on along the level rather than to carry him on that
unbeaten road He felt this and was silent again for a little while ruminating
much on the possible forms in which he might put a question At last he said in
a more timid voice than usual
»Will you give me leave to ask you only one thing Miss«
Maggie was rather startled but she answered »Yes Bob if it is about
myself not about any one else«
»Well Miss its this Do you owe anybody a grudge«
»No not any one« said Maggie looking up at him inquiringly »Why«
»O lors Miss« said Bob pinching Mumpss neck harder than ever »I wish
you did an ud tell me Id leather him till I couldnt see I would an
the Justice might do what he liked to me arter«
»O Bob« said Maggie smiling faintly »youre a very good friend to me
But I shouldnt like to punish any one even if theyd done me wrong Ive done
wrong myself too often«
This view of things was puzzling to Bob and threw more obscurity than ever
over what could possibly have happened between Stephen and Maggie But further
questions would have been too intrusive even if he could have framed them
suitably and he was obliged to carry baby away again to an expectant mother
»Happen youd like Mumps for company Miss« he said when he had taken the
baby again »Hes rare company Mumps is he knows iverything an makes no
bother about it If I tell him hell lie before you an watch you as still
just as he watches my pack Youd better let me leave him a bit hell get fond
on you Lors its a fine thing to hev a dumb brute fond on you itll stick to
you an make no jaw«
»Yes do leave him please« said Maggie »I think I should like to have
Mumps for a friend«
»Mumps lie down there« said Bob pointing to a place in front of Maggie
»an niver do you stir till youre spoke to«
Mumps lay down at once and made no sign of restlessness when his master
left the room
Chapter II
St Oggs Passes Judgment
It was soon known throughout St Oggs that Miss Tulliver was come back she had
not then eloped in order to be married to Mr Stephen Guest at all events
Mr Stephen Guest had not married her which came to the same thing so far as
her culpability was concerned We judge others according to results how else
not knowing the process by which results are arrived at If Miss Tulliver after
a few months of wellchosen travel had returned as Mrs Stephen Guest with a
postmarital trousseau and all the advantages possessed even by the most
unwelcome wife of an only son public opinion which at St Oggs as elsewhere
always knew what to think would have judged in strict consistency with those
results Public opinion in these cases is always of the feminine gender not
the world but the worlds wife and she would have seen that two handsome
young people the gentleman of quite the first family in St Oggs having
found themselves in a false position had been led into a course which to say
the least of it was highly injudicious and productive of sad pain and
disappointment especially to that sweet young thing Miss Deane Mr Stephen
Guest had certainly not behaved well but then young men were liable to those
sudden infatuated attachments and bad as it might seem in Mrs Stephen Guest to
admit the faintest advances from her cousins lover indeed it had been said
that she was actually engaged to young Wakem old Wakem himself had mentioned
it still she was very young »and a deformed young man you know and young
Guest so very fascinating and they say he positively worships her to be
sure that cant last and he ran away with her in the boat quite against her
will and what could she do She couldnt come back then no one would have
spoken to her and how very well that maizecoloured satinette becomes her
complexion It seems as if the folds in front were quite come in several of her
dresses are made so they say he thinks nothing too handsome to buy for her
Poor Miss Deane She is very pitiable but then there was no positive
engagement and the air at the coast will do her good After all if young Guest
felt no more for her than that it was better for her not to marry him What a
wonderful marriage for a girl like Miss Tulliver quite romantic Why young
Guest will put up for the borough at the next election Nothing like commerce
nowadays That young Wakem nearly went out of his mind he always was rather
queer but hes gone abroad again to be out of the way quite the best thing
for a deformed young man Miss Unit declares she will never visit Mr and Mrs
Stephen Guest such nonsense pretending to be better than other people
Society couldnt be carried on if we inquired into private conduct in that way
and Christianity tells us to think no evil and my belief is that Miss Unit
had no cards sent her«
But the results we know were not of a kind to warrant this extenuation of
the past Maggie had returned without a trousseau without a husband in that
degraded and outcast condition to which error is well known to lead and the
worlds wife with that fine instinct which is given her for the preservation of
Society saw at once that Miss Tullivers conduct had been of the most
aggravated kind Could anything be more detestable A girl so much indebted to
her friends whose mother as well as herself had received so much kindness from
the Deanes to lay the design of winning a young mans affections away from her
own cousin who had behaved like a sister to her Winning his affections That
was not the phrase for such a girl as Miss Tulliver it would have been more
correct to say that she had been actuated by mere unwomanly boldness and
unbridled passion There was always something questionable about her That
connection with young Wakem which they said had been carried on for years
looked very ill disgusting in fact But with a girl of that disposition To
the worlds wife there had always been something in Miss Tullivers very
physique that a refined instinct felt to be prophetic of harm As for poor Mr
Stephen Guest he was rather pitiable than otherwise a young man of
fiveandtwenty is not to be too severely judged in these cases he is really
very much at the mercy of a designing bold girl And it was clear that he had
given way in spite of himself he had shaken her off as soon as he could
indeed their having parted so soon looked very black indeed for her To be
sure he had written a letter laying all the blame on himself and telling the
story in a romantic fashion so as to try and make her appear quite innocent of
course he would do that But the refined instinct of the worlds wife was not to
be deceived providentially else what would become of Society Why her own
brother had turned her from his door he had seen enough you might be sure
before he would do that A truly respectable young man Mr Tom Tulliver quite
likely to rise in the world His sisters disgrace was naturally a heavy blow to
him It was to be hoped that she would go out of the neighbourhood to America
or anywhere so as to purify the air of St Oggs from the taint of her
presence extremely dangerous to daughters there No good could happen to her
it was only to be hoped she would repent and that God would have mercy on her
He had not the care of Society on His hands as the worlds wife had
It required nearly a fortnight for fine instinct to assure itself of these
inspirations indeed it was a whole week before Stephens letter came telling
his father the facts and adding that he was gone across to Holland had drawn
upon the agent at Mudport for money was incapable of any resolution at
present
Maggie all this while was too entirely filled with a more agonising
anxiety to spend any thought on the view that was being taken of her conduct by
the world of St Oggs anxiety about Stephen Lucy Philip beat on her poor
heart in a hard driving ceaseless storm of mingled love remorse and pity If
she had thought of rejection and injustice at all it would have seemed to her
that they had done their worst that she could hardly feel any stroke from them
intolerable since the words she had heard from her brothers lips Across all
her anxiety for the loved and the injured those words shot again and again
like a horrible pang that would have brought misery and dread even into a heaven
of delights The idea of ever recovering happiness never glimmered in her mind
for a moment it seemed as if every sensitive fibre in her were too entirely
preoccupied by pain ever to vibrate again to another influence Life stretched
before her as one act of penitence and all she craved as she dwelt on her
future lot was something to guarantee her from more falling her own weakness
haunted her like a vision of hideous possibilities that made no peace
conceivable except such as lay in the sense of a sure refuge
But she was not without practical intentions the love of independence was
too strong an inheritance and a habit for her not to remember that she must get
her bread and when other projects looked vague she fell back on that of
returning to her plain sewing and so getting enough to pay for her lodging at
Bobs She meant to persuade her mother to return to the Mill byandby and
live with Tom again and somehow or other she would maintain herself at St
Oggs Dr Kenn would perhaps help her and advise her She remembered his parting
words at the bazaar She remembered the momentary feeling of reliance that had
sprung in her when he was talking with her and she waited with yearning
expectation for the opportunity of confiding everything to him Her mother
called every day at Mr Deanes to learn how Lucy was the report was always sad
nothing had yet roused her from the feeble passivity which had come on with
the first shock But of Philip Mrs Tulliver had learned nothing naturally no
one whom she met would speak to her about what related to her daughter But at
last she summoned courage to go and see sister Glegg who of course would know
everything and had been even to see Tom at the Mill in Mrs Tullivers absence
though he had said nothing of what had passed on the occasion
As soon as her mother was gone Maggie put on her bonnet She had resolved
on walking to the Rectory and asking to see Dr Kenn he was in deep grief but
the grief of another does not jar upon us in such circumstances It was the
first time she had been beyond the door since her return nevertheless her mind
was so bent on the purpose of her walk that the unpleasantness of meeting
people on the way and being stared at did not occur to her But she had no
sooner passed beyond the narrower streets which she had to thread from Bobs
dwelling than she became aware of unusual glances cast at her and this
consciousness made her hurry along nervously afraid to look to right or left
Presently however she came full on Mrs and Miss Turnbull old acquaintances
of her family they both looked at her strangely and turned a little aside
without speaking All hard looks were pain to Maggie but her selfreproach was
too strong for resentment no wonder they will not speak to me she thought
they are very fond of Lucy But now she knew that she was about to pass a group
of gentlemen who were standing at the door of the billiardrooms and she could
not help seeing young Torry step out a little with his glass at his eye and bow
to her with that air of nonchalance which he might have bestowed on a friendly
barmaid Maggies pride was too intense for her not to feel that sting even in
the midst of her sorrow and for the first time the thought took strong hold of
her that she would have other obloquy cast on her besides that which was felt to
be due to her breach of faith towards Lucy But she was at the Rectory now
there perhaps she would find something else than retribution Retribution may
come from any voice the hardest cruelest most imbruted urchin at the
streetcorner can inflict it surely help and pity are rarer things more
needful for the righteous to bestow
She was shown up at once after being announced into Dr Kenns study where
he sat amongst piledup books for which he had little appetite leaning his
cheek against the head of his youngest child a girl of three The child was
sent away with the servant and when the door was closed Dr Kenn said placing
a chair for Maggie
»I was coming to see you Miss Tulliver you have anticipated me I am glad
you did«
Maggie looked at him with her childlike directness as she had done at the
bazaar and said »I want to tell you everything« But her eyes filled fast with
tears as she said it and all the pentup excitement of her humiliating walk
would have its vent before she could say more
»Do tell me everything« Dr Kenn said with quiet kindness in his grave firm
voice »Think of me as one to whom a long experience has been granted which may
enable him to help you«
In rather broken sentences and with some effort at first but soon with the
greater ease that came from a sense of relief in the confidence Maggie told the
brief story of a struggle that must be the beginning of a long sorrow Only the
day before Dr Kenn had been made acquainted with the contents of Stephens
letter and he had believed them at once without the confirmation of Maggies
statement That involuntary plaint of hers »O I must go« had remained with
him as the sign that she was undergoing some inward conflict
Maggie dwelt the longest on the feeling which had made her come back to her
mother and brother which made her cling to all the memories of the past When
she had ended Dr Kenn was silent for some minutes there was a difficulty on
his mind He rose and walked up and down the hearth with his hands behind him
At last he seated himself again and said looking at Maggie
»Your prompting to go to your nearest friends to remain where all the ties
of your life have been formed is a true prompting to which the Church in its
original constitution and discipline responds opening its arms to the penitent
watching over its children to the last never abandoning them until they are
hopelessly reprobate And the Church ought to represent the feeling of the
community so that every parish should be a family knit together by Christian
brotherhood under a spiritual father But the ideas of discipline and Christian
fraternity are entirely relaxed they can hardly be said to exist in the public
mind they hardly survive except in the partial contradictory form they have
taken in the narrow communities of schismatics and if I were not supported by
the firm faith that the Church must ultimately recover the full force of that
constitution which is alone fitted to human needs I should often lose heart at
observing the want of fellowship and sense of mutual responsibility among my own
flock At present everything seems tending towards the relaxation of ties
towards the substitution of wayward choice for the adherence to obligation
which has its roots in the past Your conscience and your heart have given you
true light on this point Miss Tulliver and I have said all this that you may
know what my wish about you what my advice to you would be if they sprang
from my own feeling and opinion unmodified by counteracting circumstances«
Dr Kenn paused a little while There was an entire absence of effusive
benevolence in his manner there was something almost cold in the gravity of his
look and voice If Maggie had not known that his benevolence was persevering in
proportion to its reserve she might have been chilled and frightened As it
was she listened expectantly quite sure that there would be some effective
help in his words He went on
»Your inexperience of the world Miss Tulliver prevents you from
anticipating fully the very unjust conceptions that will probably be formed
concerning your conduct conceptions which will have a baneful effect even in
spite of known evidence to disprove them«
»O I do I begin to see« said Maggie unable to repress this utterance of
her recent pain »I know I shall be insulted I shall be thought worse than I
am«
»You perhaps do not yet know« said Dr Kenn with a touch of more personal
pity »that a letter is come which ought to satisfy every one who has known
anything of you that you chose the steep and difficult path of a return to the
right at the moment when that return was most of all difficult«
»Oh where is he« said poor Maggie with a flush and tremor that no
presence could have hindered
»He is gone abroad he has written of all that passed to his father He has
vindicated you to the utmost and I hope the communication of that letter to
your cousin will have a beneficial effect on her«
Dr Kenn waited for her to get calm again before he went on
»That letter as I said ought to suffice to prevent false impressions
concerning you But I am bound to tell you Miss Tulliver that not only the
experience of my whole life but my observation within the last three days
makes me fear that there is hardly any evidence which will save you from the
painful effect of false imputations The persons who are the most incapable of a
conscientious struggle such as yours are precisely those who will be likely to
shrink from you because they will not believe in your struggle I fear your
life here will be attended not only with much pain but with many obstructions
For this reason and for this only I ask you to consider whether it will not
perhaps be better for you to take a situation at a distance according to your
former intention I will exert myself at once to obtain one for you«
»O if I could but stop here« said Maggie »I have no heart to begin a
strange life again I should have no stay I should feel like a lonely wanderer
cut off from the past I have written to the lady who offered me a situation
to excuse myself If I remained here I could perhaps atone in some way to Lucy
to others I could convince them that Im sorry And« she added with some of
the old proud fire flashing out »I will not go away because people say false
things of me They shall learn to retract them If I must go away at last
because because others wish it I will not go now«
»Well« said Dr Kenn after some consideration »if you determine on that
Miss Tulliver you may rely on all the influence my position gives me I am
bound to aid and countenance you by the very duties of my office as a parish
priest I will add that personally I have a deep interest in your peace of mind
and welfare«
»The only thing I want is some occupation that will enable me to get my
bread and be independent« said Maggie »I shall not want much I can go on
lodging where I am«
»I must think over the subject maturely« said Dr Kenn »and in a few days I
shall be better able to ascertain the general feeling I shall come to see you
I shall bear you constantly in mind«
When Maggie had left him Dr Kenn stood ruminating with his hands behind
him and his eyes fixed on the carpet under a painful sense of doubt and
difficulty The tone of Stephens letter which he had read and the actual
relations of all the persons concerned forced upon him powerfully the idea of
an ultimate marriage between Stephen and Maggie as the least evil and the
impossibility of their proximity in St Oggs on any other supposition until
after years of separation threw an insurmountable prospective difficulty over
Maggies stay there On the other hand he entered with all the comprehension of
a man who had known spiritual conflict and lived through years of devoted
service to his fellowmen into that state of Maggies heart and conscience
which made the consent to the marriage a desecration to her her conscience must
not be tampered with the principle on which she had acted was a safer guide
than any balancing of consequences His experience told him that intervention
was too dubious a responsibility to be lightly incurred the possible issue
either of an endeavour to restore the former relations with Lucy and Philip or
of counselling submission to this irruption of a new feeling was hidden in a
darkness all the more impenetrable because each immediate step was clogged with
evil
The great problem of the shifting relation between passion and duty is clear
to no man who is capable of apprehending it the question whether the moment has
come in which a man has fallen below the possibility of a renunciation that will
carry any efficacy and must accept the sway of a passion against which he had
struggled as a trespass is one for which we have no masterkey that will fit
all cases The casuists have become a byword of reproach but their perverted
spirit of minute discrimination was the shadow of a truth to which eyes and
hearts are too often fatally sealed the truth that moral judgments must
remain false and hollow unless they are checked and enlightened by a perpetual
reference to the special circumstances that mark the individual lot
All people of broad strong sense have an instinctive repugnance to the men
of maxims because such people early discern that the mysterious complexity of
our life is not to be embraced by maxims and that to lace ourselves up in
formulas of that sort is to repress all the divine promptings and inspirations
that spring from growing insight and sympathy And the man of maxims is the
popular representative of the minds that are guided in their moral judgment
solely by general rules thinking that these will lead them to justice by a
readymade patent method without the trouble of exerting patience
discrimination impartiality without any care to assure themselves whether
they have the insight that comes from a hardlyearned estimate of temptation or
from a life vivid and intense enough to have created a wide fellowfeeling with
all that is human
Chapter III
Showing That Old Acquaintances Are Capable of Surprising Us
When Maggie was at home again her mother brought her news of an unexpected line
of conduct in aunt Glegg As long as Maggie had not been heard of Mrs Glegg
had halfclosed her shutters and drawn down her blinds she felt assured that
Maggie was drowned that was far more probable than that her niece and legatee
should have done anything to wound the family honour in the tenderest point
When at last she learned from Tom that Maggie had come home and gathered from
him what was her explanation of her absence she burst forth in severe reproof
of Tom for admitting the worst of his sister until he was compelled If you were
not to stand by your »kin« as long as there was a shred of honour attributable
to them pray what were you to stand by Lightly to admit conduct in one of your
own family that would force you to alter your will had never been the way of
the Dodsons and though Mrs Glegg had always augured ill of Maggies future at
a time when other people were perhaps less clearsighted yet fairplay was a
jewel and it was not for her own friends to help to rob the girl of her fair
fame and to cast her out from family shelter to the scorn of the outer world
until she had become unequivocally a family disgrace The circumstances were
unprecedented in Mrs Gleggs experience nothing of that kind had happened
among the Dodsons before but it was a case in which her hereditary rectitude
and personal strength of character found a common channel along with her
fundamental ideas of clanship as they did in her lifelong regard to equity in
money matters She quarrelled with Mr Glegg whose kindness flowing entirely
into compassion for Lucy made him as hard in his judgment of Maggie as Mr
Deane himself was and fuming against her sister Tulliver because she did not
at once come to her for advice and help shut herself up in her own room with
Baxters »Saints Rest« from morning till night denying herself to all
visitors till Mr Glegg brought from Mr Deane the news of Stephens letter
Then Mrs Glegg felt that she had adequate fightingground then she laid aside
Baxter and was ready to meet all comers While Mrs Pullet could do nothing but
shake her head and cry and wish that cousin Abbot had died or any number of
funerals had happened rather than this which had never happened before so that
there was no knowing how to act and Mrs Pullet could never enter St Oggs
again because »acquaintances« knew of it all Mrs Glegg only hoped that Mrs
Wooll or any one else would come to her with their false tales about her own
niece and she would know what to say to that illadvised person
Again she had a scene of remonstrance with Tom all the more severe in
proportion to the greater strength of her present position But Tom like other
immovable things seemed only the more rigidly fixed under that attempt to shake
him Poor Tom he judged by what he had been able to see and the judgment was
painful enough to himself He thought he had the demonstration of facts observed
through years by his own eyes which gave no warning of their imperfection that
Maggies nature was utterly untrustworthy and too strongly marked with evil
tendencies to be safely treated with leniency he would act on that
demonstration at any cost but the thought of it made his days bitter to him
Tom like every one of us was imprisoned within the limits of his own nature
and his education had simply glided over him leaving a slight deposit of
polish if you are inclined to be severe on his severity remember that the
responsibility of tolerance lies with those who have the wider vision There had
arisen in Tom a repulsion towards Maggie that derived its very intensity from
their early childish love in the time when they had clasped tiny fingers
together and their later sense of nearness in a common duty and a common
sorrow the sight of her as he had told her was hateful to him In this branch
of the Dodson family aunt Glegg found a stronger nature than her own a nature
in which family feeling had lost the character of clanship by taking on a doubly
deep dye of personal pride Mrs Glegg allowed that Maggie ought to be punished
she was not a woman to deny that she knew what conduct was but punished in
proportion to the misdeeds proved against her not to those which were cast upon
her by people outside her own family who might wish to show that their own kin
were better
»Your aunt Glegg scolded me so as niver was my dear« said poor Mrs
Tulliver when she came back to Maggie »as I didnt go to her before she said
it wasnt for her to come to me first But she spoke like a sister too having
she allays was and hard to please O dear but shes said the kindest word
as has ever been spoke by you yet my child For she says for all shes been so
set again having one extry in the house and making extry spoons and things
and putting her about in her ways you shall have a shelter in her house if
youll go to her dutiful and shell uphold you against folks as say harm of you
when theyve no call And I told her I thought you couldnt bear to see anybody
but me you were so beat down with trouble but she said I wont throw ill
words at her theres them out o th family ull be ready enough to do that
But Ill give her good advice an she must be humble Its wonderful o Jane
for Im sure she used to throw everything I did wrong at me if it was the
raisin wine as turned out bad or the pies too hot or whativer it was«
»O mother« said poor Maggie shrinking from the thought of all the contact
her bruised mind would have to bear »tell her Im very grateful Ill go to
see her as soon as I can but I cant see any one just yet except Dr Kenn Ive
been to him he will advise me and help me to get some occupation I cant
live with any one or be dependent on them tell aunt Glegg I must get my own
bread But did you hear nothing of Philip Philip Wakem Have you never seen
any one that has mentioned him«
»No my dear but Ive been to Lucys and I saw your uncle and he says
they got her to listen to the letter and she took notice o Miss Guest and
asked questions and the doctor thinks shes on the turn to be better What a
world this is what trouble O dear The law was the first beginning an its
gone from bad to worse all of a sudden just when the luck seemed on the turn«
This was the first lamentation that Mrs Tulliver had let slip to Maggie but
old habit had been revived by the interview with sister Glegg
»My poor poor mother« Maggie burst out cut to the heart with pity and
compunction and throwing her arms round her mothers neck »I was always
naughty and troublesome to you And now you might have been happy if it hadnt
been for me«
»Eh my dear« said Mrs Tulliver leaning towards the warm young cheek »I
must put up wi my children I shall never have no more and if they bring me
bad luck I must be fond on it theres nothing else much to be fond on for my
furnitur went long ago And youd got to be very good once I cant think how
its turned out the wrong way so«
Still two or three more days passed and Maggie heard nothing of Philip
anxiety about him was becoming her predominant trouble and she summoned courage
at last to inquire about him of Dr Kenn on his next visit to her He did not
even know if Philip was at home The elder Wakem was made moody by an
accumulation of annoyance the disappointment in this young Jetsome to whom
apparently he was a good deal attached had been followed close by the
catastrophe to his sons hopes after he had done violence to his own strong
feeling by conceding to them and had incautiously mentioned this concession in
St Oggs and he was almost fierce in his brusqueness when any one asked him a
question about his son But Philip could hardly have been ill or it would have
been known through the calling in of the medical man it was probable that he
was gone out of the town for a little while Maggie sickened under this
suspense and her imagination began to live more and more persistently in what
Philip was enduring What did he believe about her
At last Bob brought her a letter without a postmark directed in a hand
which she knew familiarly in the letters of her own name a hand in which her
name had been written long ago in a pocket Shakespeare which she possessed Her
mother was in the room and Maggie in violent agitation hurried upstairs that
she might read the letter in solitude She read it with a throbbing brow
»Maggie I believe in you I know you never meant to deceive me I
know you tried to keep faith to me and to all I believed this before I
had any other evidence of it than your own nature The night after I
last parted from you I suffered torments I had seen what convinced me
that you were not free that there was another whose presence had a
power over you which mine never possessed but through all the
suggestions almost murderous suggestions of rage and jealousy my
mind made its way to belief in your truthfulness I was sure that you
meant to cleave to me as you had said that you had rejected him that
you struggled to renounce him for Lucys sake and for mine But I could
see no issue that was not fatal for you and that dread shut out the
very thought of resignation I foresaw that he would not relinquish you
and I believed then as I believe now that the strong attraction which
drew you together proceeded only from one side of your characters and
belonged to that partial divided action of our nature which makes half
the tragedy of the human lot I have felt the vibration of chords in
your nature that I have continually felt the want of in his But perhaps
I am wrong perhaps I feel about you as the artist does about the scene
over which his soul has brooded with love he would tremble to see it
confided to other hands he would never believe that it could bear for
another all the meaning and the beauty it bears for him
I dared not trust myself to see you that morning I was filled with
selfish passion I was shattered by a night of conscious delirium I
told you long ago that I had never been resigned even to the mediocrity
of my powers how could I be resigned to the loss of the one thing which
had ever come to me on earth with the promise of such deep joy as would
give a new and blessed meaning to the foregoing pain the promise of
another self that would lift my aching affection into the divine rapture
of an everspringing eversatisfied want
But the miseries of that night had prepared me for what came before
the next It was no surprise to me I was certain that he had prevailed
on you to sacrifice everything to him and I waited with equal certainty
to hear of your marriage I measured your love and his by my own But I
was wrong Maggie There is something stronger in you than your love for
him
I will not tell you what I went through in that interval But even
in its utmost agony even in those terrible throes that love must
suffer before it can be disembodied of selfish desire my love for you
sufficed to withhold me from suicide without the aid of any other
motive In the midst of my egoism I yet could not bear to come like a
deathshadow across the feast of your joy I could not bear to forsake
the world in which you still lived and might need me it was part of the
faith I had vowed to you to wait and endure Maggie that is a proof
of what I write now to assure you of that no anguish I have had to
bear on your account has been too heavy a price to pay for the new life
into which I have entered in loving you I want you to put aside all
grief because of the grief you have caused me I was nurtured in the
sense of privation I never expected happiness and in knowing you in
loving you I have had and still have what reconciles me to life You
have been to my affections what light what colour is to my eyes what
music is to the inward ear you have raised a dim unrest into vivid
consciousness The new life I have found in caring for your joy and
sorrow more than for what is directly my own has transformed the spirit
of rebellious murmuring into that willing endurance which is the birth
of strong sympathy I think nothing but such complete and intense love
could have initiated me into that enlarged life which grows and grows by
appropriating the life of others for before I was always dragged back
from it by everpresent painful selfconsciousness I even think
sometimes that this gift of transferred life which has come to me in
loving you may be a new power to me
Then dear one in spite of all you have been the blessing of my
life Let no selfreproach weigh on you because of me It is I who
should rather reproach myself for having urged my feelings upon you and
hurried you into words that you have felt as fetters You meant to be
true to those words you have been true I can measure your sacrifice by
what I have known in only one halfhour of your presence with me when I
dreamed that you might love me best But Maggie I have no just claim
on you for more than affectionate remembrance
For some time I have shrunk from writing to you because I have
shrunk even from the appearance of wishing to thrust myself before you
and so repeating my original error But you will not misconstrue me I
know that we must keep apart for a long while cruel tongues would force
us apart if nothing else did But I shall not go away The place where
you are is the one where my mind must live wherever I might travel And
remember that I am unchangeably yours yours not with selfish wishes
but with a devotion that excludes such wishes
God comfort you my loving largesouled Maggie If every one else
has misconceived you remember that you have never been doubted by him
whose heart recognised you ten years ago
Do not believe any one who says I am ill because I am not seen out
of doors I have only had nervous headaches no worse than I have
sometimes had them before But the overpowering heat inclines me to be
perfectly quiescent in the daytime I am strong enough to obey any word
which shall tell me that I can serve you by word or deed
Yours to the last
PHILIP WAKEM«
As Maggie knelt by the bed sobbing with that letter pressed under her her
feelings again and again gathered themselves in a whispered cry always in the
same words
»O God is there any happiness in love that could make me forget their
pain«
Chapter IV
Maggie and Lucy
By the end of the week Dr Kenn had made up his mind that there was only one way
in which he could secure to Maggie a suitable living at St Oggs Even with his
twenty years experience as a parish priest he was aghast at the obstinate
continuance of imputations against her in the face of evidence Hitherto he had
been rather more adored and appealed to than was quite agreeable to him but
now in attempting to open the ears of women to reason and their consciences to
justice on behalf of Maggie Tulliver he suddenly found himself as powerless as
he was aware he would have been if he had attempted to influence the shape of
bonnets Dr Kenn could not be contradicted he was listened to in silence but
when he left the room a comparison of opinions among his hearers yielded much
the same result as before Miss Tulliver had undeniably acted in a blamable
manner even Dr Kenn did not deny that how then could he think so lightly of
her as to put that favourable interpretation on everything she had done Even on
the supposition that required the utmost stretch of belief namely that none
of the things said about Miss Tulliver were true still since they had been
said about her they had cast an odour round her which must cause her to be
shrunk from by every woman who had to take care of her own reputation and of
Society To have taken Maggie by the hand and said »I will not believe unproved
evil of you my lips shall not utter it my ears shall be closed against it I
too am an erring mortal liable to stumble apt to come short of my most
earnest efforts your lot has been harder than mine your temptation greater
let us help each other to stand and walk without more falling« to have done
this would have demanded courage deep pity selfknowledge generous trust
would have demanded a mind that tasted no piquancy in evilspeaking that felt
no selfexaltation in condemning that cheated itself with no large words into
the belief that life can have any moral end any high religion which excludes
the striving after perfect truth justice and love towards the individual men
and women who come across our own path The ladies of St Oggs were not beguiled
by any wide speculative conceptions but they had their favourite abstraction
called Society which served to make their consciences perfectly easy in doing
what satisfied their own egoism thinking and speaking the worst of Maggie
Tulliver and turning their backs upon her It was naturally disappointing to Dr
Kenn after two years of superfluous incense from his feminine parishioners to
find them suddenly maintaining their views in opposition to his but then they
maintained them in opposition to a Higher Authority which they had venerated
longer That Authority had furnished a very explicit answer to persons who might
inquire where their social duties began and might be inclined to take wide
views as to the startingpoint The answer had not turned on the ultimate good
of Society but on »a certain man« who was found in trouble by the wayside
Not that St Oggs was empty of women with some tenderness of heart and
conscience probably it had as fair a proportion of human goodness in it as any
other small trading town of that day But until every good man is brave we must
expect to find many good women timid too timid even to believe in the
correctness of their own best promptings when these would place them in a
minority And the men at St Oggs were not all brave by any means some of them
were even fond of scandal and to an extent that might have given their
conversation an effeminate character if it had not been distinguished by
masculine jokes and by an occasional shrug of the shoulders at the mutual
hatred of women It was the general feeling of the masculine mind at St Oggs
that women were not to be interfered with in their treatment of each other
And thus every direction in which Dr Kenn had turned in the hope of
procuring some kind recognition and some employment for Maggie proved a
disappointment to him Mrs James Torry could not think of taking Maggie as a
nursery governess even temporarily a young woman about whom »such things had
been said« and about whom »gentlemen joked« and Miss Kirke who had a spinal
complaint and wanted a reader and companion felt quite sure that Maggies mind
must be of a quality with which she for her part could not risk any contact
Why did not Miss Tulliver accept the shelter offered her by her aunt Glegg it
did not become a girl like her to refuse it Or else why did she not go out of
the neighbourhood and get a situation where she was not known It was not
apparently of so much importance that she should carry her dangerous tendencies
into strange families unknown at St Oggs She must be very bold and hardened
to wish to stay in a parish where she was so much stared at and whispered about
Dr Kenn having great natural firmness began in the presence of this
opposition as every firm man would have done to contract a certain strength of
determination over and above what would have been called forth by the end in
view He himself wanted a daily governess for his younger children and though
he had hesitated in the first instance to offer this position to Maggie the
resolution to protest with the utmost force of his personal and priestly
character against her being crushed and driven away by slander was now
decisive Maggie gratefully accepted an employment that gave her duties as well
as a support her days would be filled now and solitary evenings would be a
welcome rest She no longer needed the sacrifice her mother made in staying with
her and Mrs Tulliver was persuaded to go back to the Mill
But now it began to be discovered that Dr Kenn exemplary as he had hitherto
appeared had his crotchets possibly his weaknesses The masculine mind of St
Oggs smiled pleasantly and did not wonder that Kenn liked to see a fine pair
of eyes daily or that he was inclined to take so lenient a view of the past
the feminine mind regarded at that period as less powerful took a more
melancholy view of the case If Dr Kenn should be beguiled into marrying that
Miss Tulliver It was not safe to be too confident even about the best of men
an apostle had fallen and wept bitterly afterwards and though Peters denial
was not a close precedent his repentance was likely to be
Maggie had not taken her daily walks to the Rectory for many weeks before
the dreadful possibility of her some time or other becoming the Rectors wife
had been talked of so often in confidence that ladies were beginning to discuss
how they should behave to her in that position For Dr Kenn it had been
understood had sat in the schoolroom half an hour one morning when Miss
Tulliver was giving her lessons nay he had sat there every morning he had
once walked home with her he almost always walked home with her and if not
he went to see her in the evening What an artful creature she was What a
mother for those children It was enough to make poor Mrs Kenn turn in her
grave that they should be put under the care of this girl only a few weeks
after her death Would he be so lost to propriety as to marry her before the
year was out The masculine mind was sarcastic and thought not
The Miss Guests saw an alleviation to the sorrow of witnessing a folly in
their Rector at least their brother would be safe and their knowledge of
Stephens tenacity was a constant ground of alarm to them lest he should come
back and marry Maggie They were not among those who disbelieved their brothers
letter but they had no confidence in Maggies adherence to her renunciation of
him they suspected that she had shrunk rather from the elopement than from the
marriage and that she lingered in St Oggs relying on his return to her They
had always thought her disagreeable they now thought her artful and proud
having quite as good grounds for that judgment as you and I probably have for
many strong opinions of the same kind Formerly they had not altogether
delighted in the contemplated match with Lucy but now their dread of a marriage
between Stephen and Maggie added its momentum to their genuine pity and
indignation on behalf of the gentle forsaken girl in making them desire that he
should return to her As soon as Lucy was able to leave home she was to seek
relief from the oppressive heat of this August by going to the coast with the
Miss Guests and it was in their plans that Stephen should be induced to join
them On the very first hint of gossip concerning Maggie and Dr Kenn the report
was conveyed in Miss Guests letter to her brother
Maggie had frequent tidings through her mother or aunt Glegg or Dr Kenn
of Lucys gradual progress towards recovery and her thoughts tended continually
towards her uncle Deanes house she hungered for an interview with Lucy if it
were only for five minutes to utter a word of penitence to be assured by
Lucys own eyes and lips that she did not believe in the willing treachery of
those whom she had loved and trusted But she knew that even if her uncles
indignation had not closed his house against her the agitation of such an
interview would have been forbidden to Lucy Only to have seen her without
speaking would have been some relief for Maggie was haunted by a face cruel in
its very gentleness a face that had been turned on hers with glad sweet looks
of trust and love from the twilight time of memory changed now to a sad and
weary face by a first heartstroke And as the days passed on that pale image
became more and more distinct the picture grew and grew into more speaking
definiteness under the avenging hand of remorse the soft hazel eyes in their
look of pain were bent for ever on Maggie and pierced her the more because she
could see no anger in them But Lucy was not yet able to go to church or any
place where Maggie could see her and even the hope of that departed when the
news was told her by aunt Glegg that Lucy was really going away in a few days
to Scarborough with the Miss Guests who had been heard to say that they
expected their brother to meet them there
Only those who have known what hardest inward conflict is can know what
Maggie felt as she sat in her loneliness the evening after hearing that news
from Mrs Glegg only those who have known what it is to dread their own
selfish desires as the watching mother would dread the sleepingpotion that was
to still her own pain
She sat without candle in the twilight with the window wide open towards
the river the sense of oppressive heat adding itself undistinguishably to the
burthen of her lot Seated on a chair against the window with her arm on the
windowsill she was looking blankly at the flowing river swift with the
backwardrushing tide struggling to see still the sweet face in its
unreproaching sadness that seemed now from moment to moment to sink away and be
hidden behind a form that thrust itself between and made darkness Hearing the
door open she thought Mrs Jakin was coming in with her supper as usual and
with that repugnance to trivial speech which comes with languor and
wretchedness she shrank from turning round and saying she wanted nothing good
little Mrs Jakin would be sure to make some wellmeant remarks But the next
moment without her having discerned the sound of a footstep she felt a light
hand on her shoulder and heard a voice close to her saying »Maggie«
The face was there changed but all the sweeter the hazel eyes were
there with their heartpiercing tenderness
»Maggie« the soft voice said »Lucy« answered a voice with a sharp ring of
anguish in it and Lucy threw her arms round Maggies neck and leaned her pale
cheek against the burning brow
»I stole out« said Lucy almost in a whisper while she sat down close to
Maggie and held her hand »when papa and the rest were away Alice is come with
me I asked her to help me But I must only stay a little while because it is
so late«
It was easier to say that at first than to say anything else They sat
looking at each other It seemed as if the interview must end without more
speech for speech was very difficult Each felt that there would be something
scorching in the words that would recall the irretrievable wrong But soon as
Maggie looked every distinct thought began to be overflowed by a wave of loving
penitence and words burst forth with a sob
»God bless you for coming Lucy«
The sobs came thick on each other after that
»Maggie dear be comforted« said Lucy now putting her cheek against
Maggies again »Dont grieve« And she sat still hoping to soothe Maggie with
that gentle caress
»I didnt mean to deceive you Lucy« said Maggie as soon as she could
speak »It always made me wretched that I felt what I didnt like you to know
It was because I thought it would all be conquered and you might never see
anything to wound you«
»I know dear« said Lucy »I know you never meant to make me unhappy
It is a trouble that has come on us all you have more to bear than I have
and you gave him up when you did what it must have been very hard to do«
They were silent again a little while sitting with clasped hands and
cheeks leaned together
»Lucy« Maggie began again »he struggled too He wanted to be true to you
He will come back to you Forgive him he will be happy then «
These words were wrung forth from Maggies deepest soul with an effort like
the convulsed clutch of a drowning man Lucy trembled and was silent
A gentle knock came at the door It was Alice the maid who entered and
said
»I darednt stay any longer Miss Deane Theyll find it out and therell
be such anger at your coming out so late«
Lucy rose and said »Very well Alice in a minute«
»Im to go away on Friday Maggie« she added when Alice had closed the
door again »When I come back and am strong they will let me do as I like I
shall come to you when I please then«
»Lucy« said Maggie with another great effort »I pray to God continually
that I may never be the cause of sorrow to you any more«
She pressed the little hand that she held between hers and looked up into
the face that was bent over hers Lucy never forgot that look
»Maggie« she said in a low voice that had the solemnity of confession in
it »you are better than I am I cant «
She broke off there and said no more But they clasped each other again in
a last embrace
Chapter V
The Last Conflict
In the second week of September Maggie was again sitting in her lonely room
battling with the old shadowy enemies that were for ever slain and rising again
It was past midnight and the rain was beating heavily against the window
driven with fitful force by the rushing loudmoaning wind For the day after
Lucys visit there had been a sudden change in the weather the heat and
drought had given way to cold variable winds and heavy falls of rain at
intervals and she had been forbidden to risk the contemplated journey until the
weather should become more settled In the counties higher up the Floss the
rains had been continuous and the completion of the harvest had been arrested
And now for the last two days the rains on this lower course of the river had
been incessant so that the old men had shaken their heads and talked of sixty
years ago when the same sort of weather happening about the equinox brought
on the great floods which swept the bridge away and reduced the town to great
misery But the younger generation who had seen several small floods thought
lightly of these sombre recollections and forebodings and Bob Jakin naturally
prone to take a hopeful view of his own luck laughed at his mother when she
regretted their having taken a house by the riverside observing that but for
that they would have had no boats which were the most lucky of possessions in
case of a flood that obliged them to go to a distance for food
But the careless and the fearful were alike sleeping in their beds now
There was hope that the rain would abate by the morrow threatenings of a worse
kind from sudden thaws after falls of snow had often passed off in the
experience of the younger ones and at the very worst the banks would be sure
to break lower down the river when the tide came in with violence and so the
waters would be carried off without causing more than temporary inconvenience
and losses that would be felt only by the poorer sort whom charity would
relieve
All were in their beds now for it was past midnight all except some
solitary watchers such as Maggie She was seated in her little parlour towards
the river with one candle that left everything dim in the room except a letter
which lay before her on the table That letter which had come to her today was
one of the causes that had kept her up far on into the night unconscious how
the hours were going careless of seeking rest with no image of rest coming
across her mind except of that far far off rest from which there would be no
more waking for her into this struggling earthly life
Two days before Maggie received that letter she had been to the Rectory for
the last time The heavy rain would have prevented her from going since but
there was another reason Dr Kenn at first enlightened only by a few hints as
to the new turn which gossip and slander had taken in relation to Maggie had
recently been made more fully aware of it by an earnest remonstrance from one of
his male parishioners against the indiscretion of persisting in the attempt to
overcome the prevalent feeling in the parish by a course of resistance Dr Kenn
having a conscience void of offence in the matter was still inclined to
persevere was still averse to give way before a public sentiment that was
odious and contemptible but he was finally wrought upon by the consideration of
the peculiar responsibility attached to his office of avoiding the appearance
of evil an »appearance« that is always dependent on the average quality of
surrounding minds Where these minds are low and gross the area of that
»appearance« is proportionately widened Perhaps he was in danger of acting from
obstinacy perhaps it was his duty to succumb conscientious people are apt to
see their duty in that which is the most painful course and to recede was
always painful to Dr Kenn He made up his mind that he must advise Maggie to go
away from St Oggs for a time and he performed that difficult task with as much
delicacy as he could only stating in vague terms that he found his attempt to
countenance her stay was a source of discord between himself and his
parishioners that was likely to obstruct his usefulness as a clergyman He
begged her to allow him to write to a clerical friend of his who might possibly
take her into his own family as governess and if not would probably know of
some other available position for a young woman in whose welfare Dr Kenn felt a
strong interest
Poor Maggie listened with a trembling lip she could say nothing but a faint
»thank you I shall be grateful« and she walked back to her lodgings through
the driving rain with a new sense of desolation She must be a lonely wanderer
she must go out among fresh faces that would look at her wonderingly because
the days did not seem joyful to her she must begin a new life in which she
would have to rouse herself to receive new impressions and she was so
unspeakably sickeningly weary There was no home no help for the erring even
those who pitied were constrained to hardness But ought she to complain Ought
she to shrink in this way from the long penance of life which was all the
possibility she had of lightening the load to some other sufferers and so
changing that passionate error into a new force of unselfish human love All the
next day she sat in her lonely room with a window darkened by the cloud and the
driving rain thinking of that future and wrestling for patience for what
repose could poor Maggie ever win except by wrestling
And on the third day this day of which she had just sat out the close
the letter had come which was lying on the table before her
The letter was from Stephen He was come back from Holland he was at
Mudport again unknown to any of his friends and had written to her from that
place enclosing the letter to a person whom he trusted in St Oggs From
beginning to end it was a passionate cry of reproach an appeal against her
useless sacrifice of him of herself against that perverted notion of right
which led her to crush all his hopes for the sake of a mere idea and not any
substantial good his hopes whom she loved and who loved her with that single
overpowering passion that worship which a man never gives to a woman more than
once in his life
»They have written to me that you are to marry Kenn As if I should believe
that Perhaps they have told you some such fables about me Perhaps they tell
you I have been travelling My body has been dragged about somewhere but I have
never travelled from the hideous place where you left me where I started up
from the stupor of helpless rage to find you gone
Maggie whose pain can have been like mine Whose injury is like mine Who
besides me has met that long look of love that has burnt itself into my soul so
that no other image can come there Maggie call me back to you call me back
to life and goodness I am banished from both now I have no motives I am
indifferent to everything Two months have only deepened the certainty that I
can never care for life without you Write me one word say Come In two days I
should be with you Maggie have you forgotten what it was to be together to
be within reach of a look to be within hearing of each others voice«
When Maggie first read this letter she felt as if her real temptation had
only just begun At the entrance of the chill dark cavern we turn with unworn
courage from the warm light but how when we have trodden far in the damp
darkness and have begun to be faint and weary how if there is a sudden
opening above us and we are invited back again to the lifenourishing day The
leap of natural longing from under the pressure of pain is so strong that all
less immediate motives are likely to be forgotten till the pain has been
escaped from
For hours Maggie felt as if her struggle had been in vain For hours every
other thought that she strove to summon was thrust aside by the image of Stephen
waiting for the single word that would bring him to her She did not read the
letter she heard him uttering it and the voice shook her with its old strange
power All the day before she had been filled with the vision of a lonely future
through which she must carry the burthen of regret upheld only by clinging
faith And here close within her reach urging itself upon her even as a
claim was another future in which hard endurance and effort were to be
exchanged for easy delicious leaning on anothers loving strength And yet that
promise of joy in the place of sadness did not make the dire force of the
temptation to Maggie It was Stephens tone of misery it was the doubt in the
justice of her own resolve that made the balance tremble and made her once
start from her seat to reach the pen and paper and write »Come«
But close upon that decisive act her mind recoiled and the sense of
contradiction with her past self in her moments of strength and clearness came
upon her like a pang of conscious degradation No she must wait she must
pray the light that had forsaken her would come again she should feel again
what she had felt when she had fled away under an inspiration strong enough to
conquer agony to conquer love she should feel again what she had felt when
Lucy stood by her when Philips letter had stirred all the fibres that bound
her to the calmer past
She sat quite still far on into the night with no impulse to change her
attitude without active force enough even for the mental act of prayer only
waiting for the light that would surely come again It came with the memories
that no passion could long quench the long past came back to her and with it
the fountains of selfrenouncing pity and affection of faithfulness and
resolve The words that were marked by the quiet hand in the little old book
that she had long ago learned by heart rushed even to her lips and found a
vent for themselves in a low murmur that was quite lost in the loud driving of
the rain against the window and the loud moan and roar of the wind »I have
received the Cross I have received it from Thy hand I will bear it and bear
it till death as Thou hast laid it upon me«
But soon other words rose that could find no utterance but in a sob
»Forgive me Stephen It will pass away You will come back to her«
She took up the letter held it to the candle and let it burn slowly on the
hearth Tomorrow she would write to him the last word of parting
»I will bear it and bear it till death But how long it will be before
death comes I am so young so healthy How shall I have patience and strength
Am I to struggle and fall and repent again has life other trials as hard for
me still«
With that cry of selfdespair Maggie fell on her knees against the table
and buried her sorrowstricken face Her soul went out to the Unseen Pity that
would be with her to the end Surely there was something being taught her by
this experience of great need and she must be learning a secret of human
tenderness and longsuffering that the less erring could hardly know »O God
if my life is to be long let me live to bless and comfort «
At that moment Maggie felt a startling sensation of sudden cold about her
knees and feet it was water flowing under her She started up the stream was
flowing under the door that led into the passage She was not bewildered for an
instant she knew it was the flood
The tumult of emotion she had been enduring for the last twelve hours seemed
to have left a great calm in her without screaming she hurried with the candle
upstairs to Bob Jakins bedroom The door was ajar she went in and shook him
by the shoulder
»Bob the flood is come it is in the house let us see if we can make the
boats safe«
She lighted his candle while the poor wife snatching up her baby burst
into screams and then she hurried down again to see if the waters were rising
fast There was a step down into the room at the door leading from the
staircase she saw that the water was already on a level with the step While
she was looking something came with a tremendous crash against the window and
sent the leaded panes and the old wooden framework inwards in shivers the
water pouring in after it
»It is the boat« cried Maggie »Bob come down to get the boats«
And without a moments shudder of fear she plunged through the water which
was rising fast to her knees and by the glimmering light of the candle she had
left on the stairs she mounted on to the windowsill and crept into the boat
which was left with the prow lodging and protruding through the window Bob was
not long after her hurrying without shoes or stockings but with the lanthorn
in his hand
»Why theyre both here both the boats« said Bob as he got into the one
where Maggie was »Its wonderful this fastening isnt broke too as well as the
mooring«
In the excitement of getting into the other boat unfastening it and
mastering an oar Bob was not struck with the danger Maggie incurred We are not
apt to fear for the fearless when we are companions in their danger and Bobs
mind was absorbed in possible expedients for the safety of the helpless
indoors The fact that Maggie had been up had waked him and had taken the
lead in activity gave Bob a vague impression of her as one who would help to
protect not need to be protected She too had got possession of an oar and had
pushed off so as to release the boat from the overhanging windowframe
»The waters rising so fast« said Bob »I doubt itll be in at the chambers
before long th house is so low Ive more mind to get Prissy and the child
and the mother into the boat if I could and trusten to the water for th old
house is none so safe And if I let go the boat but you« he exclaimed
suddenly lifting the light of his lanthorn on Maggie as she stood in the rain
with the oar in her hand and her black hair streaming
Maggie had no time to answer for a new tidal current swept along the line
of the houses and drove both the boats out on to the wide water with a force
that carried them far past the meeting current of the river
In the first moments Maggie felt nothing thought of nothing but that she
had suddenly passed away from that life which she had been dreading it was the
transition of death without its agony and she was alone in the darkness with
God
The whole thing had been so rapid so dreamlike that the threads of
ordinary association were broken she sank down on the seat clutching the oar
mechanically and for a long while had no distinct conception of her position
The first thing that waked her to fuller consciousness was the cessation of the
rain and a perception that the darkness was divided by the faintest light
which parted the overhanging gloom from the immeasurable watery level below She
was driven out upon the flood that awful visitation of God which her father
used to talk of which had made the nightmare of her childish dreams And with
that thought there rushed in the vision of the old home and Tom and her
mother they had all listened together
»O God where am I Which is the way home« she cried out in the dim
loneliness
What was happening to them at the Mill The flood had once nearly destroyed
it They might be in danger in distress her mother and her brother alone
there beyond reach of help Her whole soul was strained now on that thought
and she saw the longloved faces looking for help into the darkness and finding
none
She was floating in smooth water now perhaps far on the overflooded
fields There was no sense of present danger to check the outgoing of her mind
to the old home and she strained her eyes against the curtain of gloom that she
might seize the first sight of her whereabout that she might catch some faint
suggestion of the spot towards which all her anxieties tended
O how welcome the widening of that dismal watery level the gradual
uplifting of the cloudy firmament the slowly defining blackness of objects
above the glassy dark Yes she must be out on the fields those were the tops
of hedgerow trees Which way did the river lie Looking behind her she saw the
lines of black trees looking before her there were none then the river lay
before her She seized an oar and began to paddle the boat forward with the
energy of wakening hope the dawning seemed to advance more swiftly now she was
in action and she could soon see the poor dumb beasts crowding piteously on a
mound where they had taken refuge Onward she paddled and rowed by turns in the
growing twilight her wet clothes clung round her and her streaming hair was
dashed about by the wind but she was hardly conscious of any bodily sensations
except a sensation of strength inspired by mighty emotion Along with the
sense of danger and possible rescue for those longremembered beings at the old
home there was an undefined sense of reconcilement with her brother what
quarrel what harshness what unbelief in each other can subsist in the presence
of a great calamity when all the artificial vesture of our life is gone and we
are all one with each other in primitive mortal needs Vaguely Maggie felt
this in the strong resurgent love towards her brother that swept away all the
later impressions of hard cruel offence and misunderstanding and left only the
deep underlying unshakable memories of early union
But now there was a large dark mass in the distance and near to her Maggie
could discern the current of the river The dark mass must be yes it was St
Oggs Ah now she knew which way to look for the first glimpse of the
wellknown trees the grey willows the now yellowing chestnuts and above
them the old roof But there was no colour no shape yet all was faint and dim
More and more strongly the energies seemed to come and put themselves forth as
if her life were a storedup force that was being spent in this hour unneeded
for any future
She must get her boat into the current of the Floss else she would never be
able to pass the Ripple and approach the house this was the thought that
occurred to her as she imagined with more and more vividness the state of
things round the old home But then she might be carried very far down and be
unable to guide her boat out of the current again For the first time distinct
ideas of danger began to press upon her but there was no choice of courses no
room for hesitation and she floated into the current Swiftly she went now
without effort more and more clearly in the lessening distance and the growing
light she began to discern the objects that she knew must be the wellknown
trees and roofs nay she was not far off a rushing muddy current that must be
the strangely altered Ripple
Great God there were floating masses in it that might dash against her
boat as she passed and cause her to perish too soon What were those masses
For the first time Maggies heart began to beat in an agony of dread She
sat helpless dimly conscious that she was being floated along more intensely
conscious of the anticipated clash But the horror was transient it passed away
before the oncoming warehouses of St Oggs she had passed the mouth of the
Ripple then now she must use all her skill and power to manage the boat and
get it if possible out of the current She could see now that the bridge was
broken down she could see the masts of a stranded vessel far out over the
watery field But no boats were to be seen moving on the river such as had
been laid hands on were employed in the flooded streets
With new resolution Maggie seized her oar and stood up again to paddle
but the now ebbing tide added to the swiftness of the river and she was carried
along beyond the bridge She could hear shouts from the windows overlooking the
river as if the people there were calling to her It was not till she had
passed on nearly to Tofton that she could get the boat clear of the current
Then with one yearning look towards her uncle Deanes house that lay farther
down the river she took to both her oars and rowed with all her might across
the watery fields back towards the Mill Colour was beginning to awake now and
as she approached the Dorlcote fields she could discern the tints of the trees
could see the old Scotch firs far to the right and the home chestnuts Oh
how deep they lay in the water deeper than the trees on this side the hill And
the roof of the Mill where was it Those heavy fragments hurrying down the
Ripple what had they meant But it was not the house the house stood firm
drowned up to the first story but still firm or was it broken in at the end
towards the Mill
With panting joy that she was there at last joy that overcame all distress
Maggie neared the front of the house At first she heard no sound she saw no
object moving Her boat was on a level with the upstairs windows She called
out in a loud piercing voice
»Tom where are you Mother where are you Here is Maggie«
Soon from the window of the attic in the central gable she heard Toms
voice
»Who is it Have you brought a boat«
»It is I Tom Maggie Where is mother«
»She is not here she went to Garum the day before yesterday Ill come
down to the lower window«
»Alone Maggie« said Tom in a voice of deep astonishment as he opened the
middle window on a level with the boat
»Yes Tom God has taken care of me to bring me to you Get in quickly Is
there no one else«
»No« said Tom stepping into the boat »I fear the man is drowned he was
carried down the Ripple I think when part of the Mill fell with the crash of
trees and stones against it Ive shouted again and again and there has been no
answer Give me the oars Maggie«
It was not till Tom had pushed off and they were on the wide water he face
to face with Maggie that the full meaning of what had happened rushed upon his
mind It came with so overpowering a force it was such a new revelation to his
spirit of the depths in life that had lain beyond his vision which he had
fancied so keen and clear that he was unable to ask a question They sat
mutely gazing at each other Maggie with eyes of intense life looking out from a
weary beaten face Tom pale with a certain awe and humiliation Thought was
busy though the lips were silent and though he could ask no question he
guessed a story of almost miraculous divinelyprotected effort But at last a
mist gathered over the bluegrey eyes and the lips found a word they could
utter the old childish »Magsie«
Maggie could make no answer but a long deep sob of that mysterious wondrous
happiness that is one with pain
As soon as she could speak she said »We will go to Lucy Tom well go and
see if she is safe and then we can help the rest«
Tom rowed with untired vigour and with a different speed from poor
Maggies The boat was soon in the current of the river again and soon they
would be at Tofton
»Park House stands high up out of the flood« said Maggie »Perhaps they
have got Lucy there«
Nothing else was said a new danger was being carried towards them by the
river Some wooden machinery had just given way on one of the wharves and huge
fragments were being floated along The sun was rising now and the wide area of
watery desolation was spread out in dreadful clearness around them in dreadful
clearness floated onwards the hurrying threatening masses A large company in a
boat that was working its way along under the Tofton houses observed their
danger and shouted »Get out of the current«
But that could not be done at once and Tom looking before him saw death
rushing on them Huge fragments clinging together in fatal fellowship made one
wide mass across the stream
»It is coming Maggie« Tom said in a deep hoarse voice loosing the oars
and clasping her
The next instant the boat was no longer seen upon the water and the huge
mass was hurrying on in hideous triumph
But soon the keel of the boat reappeared a black speck on the golden water
The boat reappeared but brother and sister had gone down in an embrace
never to be parted living through again in one supreme moment the days when
they had clasped their little hands in love and roamed the daisied fields
together
Conclusion
Nature repairs her ravages repairs them with her sunshine and with human
labour The desolation wrought by that flood had left little visible trace on
the face of the earth five years after The fifth autumn was rich in golden
cornstacks rising in thick clusters among the distant hedgerows the wharves
and warehouses on the Floss were busy again with echoes of eager voices with
hopeful lading and unlading
And every man and woman mentioned in this history was still living except
those whose end we know
Nature repairs her ravages but not all The uptorn trees are not rooted
again the parted hills are left scarred if there is a new growth the trees
are not the same as the old and the hills underneath their green vesture bear
the marks of the past rending To the eyes that have dwelt on the past there is
no thorough repair
Dorlcote Mill was rebuilt And Dorlcote churchyard where the brick grave
that held a father whom we know was found with the stone laid prostrate upon it
after the flood had recovered all its grassy order and decent quiet
Near that brick grave there was a tomb erected very soon after the flood
for two bodies that were found in close embrace and it was visited at different
moments by two men who both felt that their keenest joy and keenest sorrow were
for ever buried there
One of them visited the tomb again with a sweet face beside him but that
was years after
The other was always solitary His great companionship was among the trees
of the Red Deeps where the buried joy seemed still to hover like a revisiting
spirit
The tomb bore the names of Tom and Maggie Tulliver and below the names it
was written
»In their death they were not divided«